The alpine resort of Évian-les-Bains, known more for its mineral water than diplomatic summits, becomes the centre of global politics from Monday as leaders of the world's seven largest advanced economies meet for their annual gathering. The 52nd G7 summit, hosted by France on the shores of Lake Geneva, runs until Wednesday and arrives at what many describe as one of the most volatile moments in recent memory.
US President Donald Trump is expected to fly to France late Sunday, after attending a mixed-martial arts bout on the White House South Lawn that coincides with his 80th birthday. His delayed departure pushed the summit back by a day. According to the Élysée Palace, Macron will receive Trump privately at 17:00 on Monday, followed by a formal welcome dinner themed "Responding together to the major international challenges". After the summit, Trump will travel to the Palace of Versailles for a dinner marking the 250th anniversary of American independence, at a site where the treaty recognising US independence was signed in 1783.
Iran deal on the brink
A potential peace agreement between Washington and Tehran dominates the agenda, with a deal appearing closer than at any point since Trump launched the war against Iran in February. A senior US administration official said an agreement could come within days, though it was "not 100%" certain. Pakistan, a key mediator, described the situation as closer to resolution than "ever before". The economic stakes are high: before the conflict, roughly a quarter of the world's seaborne oil trade passed through the Strait of Hormuz, which Iran closed to "unfriendly nations" in early March, sending energy prices sharply higher. Even with a deal, clearing the mines will be a substantial military undertaking. The UK and France have prepared a mine-clearing proposal backed by military planners from more than 15 countries, designed for rapid deployment within days of any peace agreement. Securing Trump's endorsement is a central goal of the summit, though the president last week downplayed the threat posed by Iranian mines, even as Secretary of State Marco Rubio acknowledged large sections of the waterway remained mined. For more context, see Trump's claims of an imminent deal and Iran's cautious stance.
A "bruised bromance" at the heart of the summit
Macron's relationship with Trump, once sealed by a famous white-knuckle handshake at the 2018 Bastille Day parade, will be on display. The warmth of those early days has curdled into something more transactional, though a personal channel of calls and texts has survived. "The bromance is gone but there's a level of something like grudging mutual respect between them in the room," one European official told the Financial Times. Europeans arrive with fresh grievances: US tariffs on EU goods, Trump's NATO ambiguity, and the economic pain caused by the Hormuz closure. "In 2025 Europeans were willing to accept the bend-the-knee strategy," said Max Bergmann of the Centre for Strategic and International Studies. "They're less accepting of it in 2026." Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, who spent Saturday in Dublin delivering a pointed address, told Trinity College: "Ireland and Canada are navigating a global rupture, not a quiet transition. The post-Cold War world's rules-based order is breaking down."
Ukraine and AI: other fault lines
Volodymyr Zelenskyy will attend a G7 working session on Tuesday titled "Building peace and security for Ukraine and Europe", but will not receive a bilateral meeting with Trump, signalling Kyiv's diminished standing in Washington. The Élysée schedule shows Zelenskyy arriving at 08:55 on Tuesday, with the session beginning at 09:00. A separate working lunch that afternoon will bring the leaders of Egypt, the UAE and Qatar to the table for talks on "facing the crises and guaranteeing stability in the Middle East". Trump is scheduled for one-on-ones with the leaders of France, Qatar, the UAE, Egypt and India. On artificial intelligence, the summit will host an unprecedented gathering of industry chiefs. The CEOs of OpenAI, Google DeepMind and Anthropic — Sam Altman, Demis Hassabis and Dario Amodei — have all confirmed attendance, marking the first G7 at which all three leading AI companies are represented. Macron personally invited Altman, for whom this will be a first G7 appearance. The Élysée has scheduled a dedicated working lunch on Wednesday with business leaders on "ensuring a safe, rapid and effective deployment of artificial intelligence" — the summit's most concrete institutional moment on the technology. This comes as OpenAI files for an IPO, joining Anthropic in the AI public listing race.
