Leaders from the world's seven largest democracies met in a French Alpine town this week to discuss ending the Russia-Ukraine war, preventing the Israel-Gaza conflict from spreading, and confronting Iran. They left with some hope on Ukraine but no real answers on how to actually make peace happen.

President Trump attended the official greeting with other leaders at the Evian resort. Trump met privately with French President Emmanuel Macron first, before the main sessions started. These private meetings ended up mattering more than the official statements the G7 released.

Ukraine: Open Door, Closed Answers

When Trump spoke about Ukraine during the summit, other leaders felt encouraged that peace might be possible. Reuters reported that optimism spread. But underneath that hopeful mood sit deep problems. The New York Times and other outlets made clear that the U.S. and Europe disagreed on major points—a familiar pattern from past summits.

The core problem: Europe wants ironclad security promises to protect Ukraine after the war ends. The U.S. does not want to commit to those guarantees before peace negotiations even start. No one solved this gap at Evian.

Europe's disagreement with the U.S. on Iran is just as serious. According to The Guardian, the UK, France, and Germany have been negotiating with Iran separately from Washington, which prefers taking a harder line. Getting these countries to agree on a single Iran policy—on nuclear limits, sanctions, and enforcement—looks nearly impossible right now.

NATO: Troops and Money

While the G7 met, NATO was dealing with its own problems. According to reporting, the U.S. was considering cutting back the troops it would make available to NATO in an emergency. That matters because NATO's entire defense system depends on countries putting soldiers on standby, ready to deploy fast if Russia attacks a NATO member.

Last year, NATO members agreed to spend 3.5 percent of their national budgets on defense — a big jump from the old 2 percent goal. But spending more money is just the first step. Countries also need trained soldiers, equipment that works well together across different countries, and factories that can actually produce weapons. Those things take time and planning.

NATO also made changes to how many troops it keeps in Kosovo. That might sound like a small thing, but it signals that the Balkans—a region in southeastern Europe—is getting less stable.

What Happened Next

NATO defense ministers are meeting on June 17, right after this summit ends, to continue working on the problems leaders could not fix. They will likely debate how many troops each country commits and how to guarantee Ukraine's safety after any war settlement.

What became clear at Evian is that the G7 does not really negotiate as one group anymore. Instead, countries have bilateral meetings (two countries meeting one-on-one), and those conversations only sometimes line up on shared positions. This approach can produce statements that sound good. It rarely creates a common strategy.

Trump's hopeful comments about Ukraine did get people's attention. But he did not promise anything concrete. What matters next is whether the U.S. actually follows up with serious diplomatic talks with Russia or Ukraine. European leaders are watching to see if Evian's cautious hope turns into real negotiating momentum, or if it ends there.