Macron invites Zelensky to upcoming G7 summit

The Kyiv Independent ^ | June 11, 2026 | Abbey Fenbert

[MinorityRepublican]

French President Emmanuel Macron said on June 10 that it is "very important" for President Volodymyr Zelensky to attend the upcoming Group of Seven (G7) summit.

Zelensky's participation "is very important for us because we need to rebuild consensus within the G7 in support of Ukraine on the various aspects of the war," Macron said at the Elysee Palace during a pre-summit discussion with civil society representatives.

The leaders of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom, and the United States will convene at the G7 Summit in the French resort town of Evian-les-Bains from June 15-17.

Macron's invitation comes a week after Politico reported on June 2 that Zelensky planned to attend the G7 conference, citing officials familiar with the preparations. The report, along with Macron's confirmation, marked a shift from earlier expectations, as French officials had previously indicated Zelensky was not invited to attend the summit.

But Macron reiterated on June 10 that support for Ukraine is top of the agenda for this year's summit. Along with "rebuilding consensus" among Kyiv's allies, France hopes the summit will address the need for continued peace negotiations with Russia.

The other main item on the agenda is the U.S.-Israeli war in Iran. Macron said the leaders Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates would also be invited to a separate session of the G7 summit for talks on the Strait of Hormuz.

The summit in Evian will serve as the culmination of France's year-long G7 presidency.

[Track9]

At least they won’t have to wear platform shoes to on the same level.

[gibsonguy]

Those two creeps deserve each other.

[Rockingham]

Like it or not, Russia’s economic and logistical struggles, reverses in the field, and the ongoing development of Ukraine’s drone and robot technologies offer a genuine prospect of Ukrainian victory in some form. My guess is that since Putin now needs peace, Zelensky and the G7 will be discussing terms and arriving at a common position.

[Worldtraveler once upon a time]

Ever wonder about the individuals whose articles are published here and there?

The Kyiv Independent ^ | June 11, 2026 | Abbey Fenbert

"Abbey Fenbert is a writer and editor living in Chicago. She holds an MFA in Playwriting from Boston University and a BA from NYU. Her original plays have been produced and developed by the Matrix Theatre Company, Red Theatre Chicago, Northern Illinois University, the Playwrights Union of Los Angeles, the Great Plains Theatre Conference, Boston Playwrights' Theatre, the KNOW Theatre, the Berkshire Playwrights’ Lab, the Playwrights Center of Minneapolis and the Vagrancy. Her plays Sickle and Child were Finalists for the 2016 and 2017 O'Neill National Playwrights Conferences, respectively. She's received multiple honors from the Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival, including the 2013 Mark Twain Prize for Comic Playwriting. Her short dramatic works are published in anthologies from Smith & Kraus and her writing has been featured online at Catapult, The Toast, McSweeney’s, The Offing, HowlRound and American Theatre. She also wrote and stars in the webseries Beck & Clem, a feminist time-travel comedy. Fenbert is currently a News Editor at the Kyiv Independent, an English-language media outlet based in Ukraine."

Source: About - Abbey Fenbert

Here's an article, via MSN from Kyiv Independent, about the Financial Times' report about President Trump "threatening Europe....". As she reports on a report, "the Financial Times (FT) reported on April 1, citing people familiar with the discussions."

Source: Trump threatened Europe over Strait of Hormuz, with weapons for Ukraine as bargaining chip, FT reports Story by Abbey Fenbert • 2mo [ 1 April 2026 ]

[canuck_conservative]

Ever wonder about the individuals whose articles are published here and there?

No

Only you BorisBots are obsessed with personally trashing anybody who criticizes Russia

Authors OR other FR members

[Bikkuri]

Definitely a great couple...

[adorno]

At least they won’t have to wear platform shoes to on the same level.

Yeah. They need to put that item on the agenda.

[adorno]

The G7 nations, especially those from Europe, are finally recognizing that the most powerful military in Europe is now Ukraine; therefore, not inviting Ukraine to the G7 would be idiotic, not to mention that they would be in denial of the changing landscape in European politics and European military matters.

[MinorityRepublican]

Iran and Ukraine loom over G7, as France hopes Trump will at least stay for duration

[BroJoeK]

Worldtraveler once upon a time: "Ever wonder about the individuals whose articles are published here and there?
The Kyiv Independent ^ | June 11, 2026 | Abbey Fenbert"

The article itself tells us the following about Abbey Fenbert:

"Abbey Fenbert Senior News Editor Abbey Fenbert is a senior news editor at the Kyiv Independent.
She is a freelance writer, editor, and playwright with an MFA from Boston University.
Abbey served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Ukraine from 2008-2011."

I have a business degree from Boston University (1973), so I don't necessarily hold her MFA against her, nor would I denigrate her service in the Peace Corps in Ukraine.
I served in the US Army in West Germany during the Cold War.

Apparently, her job as Kyiv Independent editor allows her to work remotely and does not require her to live in Kyiv.

Yes, doubtless she's a Leftie whose partisan politics can get pretty disgusting, but I still respect her service in the Peace Corps and commitment to Ukraine.

This particular report, "Macron invites Zelensky to upcoming G7 summit", to me sounds entirely factual and businesslike.

[BroJoeK]

Rockingham: "My guess is that since Putin now needs peace, Zelensky and the G7 will be discussing terms and arriving at a common position."

1979 Soviet Invasion:

Don't hold your breath.

Russia will not sue for peace until long after Mad-Vlad the Invader Putin has departed this earth for his eternal "reward".
They can't and they won't, just as they didn't in Soviet-Afghanistan war of 1979-1989.
Iirc, in that war they went through three different leaders before Michael Gorbachev was finally able to order their withdrawal.

So, Russians under Putin cannot appear to be lesser people than their Old Soviet grandfathers.

Ukraine will win by surviving -- months, years, decades if necessary -- until Crazy Ivan finally realizes there's nothing more to be gained by pushing more of its young men into the Ukrainian meat grinder.

Withdrawal 1989:

[Worldtraveler once upon a time]

--- "Yes, doubtless she's a Leftie whose partisan politics can get pretty disgusting, but I still respect her service in the Peace Corps and commitment to Ukraine. This particular report, 'Macron invites Zelensky to upcoming G7 summit', to me sounds entirely factual and businesslike."

"Leftie" -- your word -- Fenbert is in Chicago and also "Senior News Editor" according to Kyiv Independent. She co-authored another article titled "Zelensky, E3 leaders name 5 conditions for 'just and lasting peace' at bilateral talks in London,"

Source: Zelensky, E3 leaders name 5 conditions for 'just and lasting peace' at bilateral talks in London 7 June 2026, by Abbey Fenbert, Dmytro Basmat

Yes, Fenbert works remotely from Chicago, as Senior News Editor, as does her co-author, Dmytro Basmat, who also is a Senior News Editor works remotely from Ottawa's Carleton University.

The above linked article tells of Macron, Merz, Starmer and Zelensky meeting in London this last week. So the G7 seems mostly about trying to get President Trump more involved. Since those "5 conditions" are already set via the G3 meeting, the obvious aim is to mesh the United States into that set of conditions.

As the CFR observes:

"Despite French efforts to keep to the agenda, leaders will arrive in Évian confronting a geopolitical and economic environment very different from the one France envisioned when it assumed the presidency and crafted its policy priorities. "

Later in the article,

"Support for Ukraine, trade, digital sovereignty, regulation, and climate policy are just a few of the issues where diminished trust in the United States—and an ever-growing desire among allies to reduce their strategic dependencies on Washington—will push the other six members to coordinate more closely among themselves."

Source: Macron's Agenda Meets Trump's at the G7 Summit 11 June 2026, Heidi E. Crebo-Rediker

Then a day later than the CFR's take, one finds AP's.

"Kurt Volker, a former U.S. ambassador to NATO, said the Trump-Macron relationship has been further complicated by the Iran war and Trump's complaints 'that Europeans weren't helping, when they hadn't been consulted, and their interests are very much affected by this'.”

Source: Macron once had a knack for managing Trump. The G7 may test it 12 June 2026. By Darlene Superville and Sylvie Corbet, Associated Press.

So the G3 in London has "5 conditions" ready to go, circa 7 June 2026. Sure sounds like a replay of the EU's meeting last year with the same, pictured as:

Only days away, we'll find out shortly if Macron and the E3 ( as above ) sway President Trump to do something he ( and we ) are not already doing. Tick tock.

I'll go along with President Trump as these days go by.

[Rockingham]

You may well be correct. Then again, if (or when) the Russian economy and front line start to collapse, the dynamic changes. That is essentially what happened in Afghanistan. The signs of similar stress as to the Ukraine War are growing, but Putin is said to be both delusional and lied to. What might the G7 propose to break the impasse?

How about something like an immediate cease fire and withdrawal from Ukraine in good order by Russian forces, in return for phased sanctions relief? All remaining issues to then be negotiated in good faith.

Such an offer would be rejected by Putin, but it would set a marker down for the Russian public that Ukraine and NATO are not unreasonable in suggesting an Afghan war type solution. That might catalyze a political process in an increasingly war weary Russia that results in Putin's ouster or forced acceptance of terms.

[BroJoeK]

"I'll go along with President Trump as these days go by."

We agree on that.

[BroJoeK]

1989 Tiananmen Square, China:

Rockingham: "Such an offer would be rejected by Putin, but it would set a marker down for the Russian public that Ukraine and NATO are not unreasonable in suggesting an Afghan war type solution.
That might catalyze a political process in an increasingly war weary Russia that results in Putin's ouster or forced acceptance of terms."

Sadly, Russia today is not a legitimate democracy.
At best it is stage-managed democratic theater, at worst it is top-down brute-force dictatorship.

Around the world, authoritarian regimes, including China's and Russia's, have studied the 1991 collapse of the Old Soviet Union to learn its lessons and so prevent a recurrence in their own countries.
We can see those lessons applied today in Iran to preserve & protect the Supreme Leader and his IRGC.
I suspect Russia would be a far tougher nut to crack than Iran, and so will not fail or fall -- short of major economic, financial and physical bleedings-out, and long-term unraveling.

Sure, a lot of very optimistic people claim that's happening already, but I haven't yet seen anything that looks fatal to Putin's regime.

1993 Yeltsin assaults Russia's Parliament:

2026 Iranian Protesters killed by government IRGC, BASIJ & FARAJA forces:

[adorno]

Ukraine will win by surviving -- months, years, decades if necessary -- until Crazy Ivan finally realizes there's nothing more to be gained by pushing more of its young men into the Ukrainian meat grinder.

I don't see Ukraine JUST SURVIVING.

I see Ukraine winning convincingly, just from what is apparent now in the battlefield. Ukraine is stopping all Russian offensives, and turning them around into victories which also have the Ukrainians advancing and taking back their lands. Russia is also losing Crimea and their occupied land in eastern Ukraine. Russia can't advance anywhere and they're being pushed back everywhere, even if the push-back is slow and could take many months or years to kick the Russian out.

Putin won't leave Ukraine; the humiliation would kill him,but the Russian people themselves will get to him before he dies of old age or from a well-placed Ukrainian bomb underneath a car.

[adorno]

I suspect Russia would be a far tougher nut to crack than Iran, and so will not fail or fall -- short of major economic, financial and physical bleedings-out, and long-term unraveling.

Even the Russians who are tolerant of their tyrannical government, can only take so much.

Sure, a lot of very optimistic people claim that's happening already, but I haven't yet seen anything that looks fatal to Putin's regime.

Millions of dead and injured troops, will anger mothers and fathers and husbands and children. Those millions of casualties have family and friends in the many millions, and the rest of the country will be angry just as well. Plus, the Russian economy is in shambles and people can't go out without having to be looking out for possible drones or missiles headed their way.

Life was a lot easier before PUTIN decided to take the country into war, when it wasn't necessary at all. Putin will be looking for Putin's head on a silver platter.

[Rockingham]

Even as an autocratic security state, Russia is still subject to political processes. These revolve around the interests and loyalty of the oligarchs, those in Putin's circle, and of the military and security services. Since their calculations and actions are fraught with risk, they are mostly hidden from view. When change occurs, it can happen abruptly.

My read of Russia's military circumstances is that it cannot generate the combat power to win or even to hold on indefinitely. Neither can the Russian economy sustain the continued losses of manpower and resources due to the war. For all the urging of Russia's ultra nationalists for total war mobilization, such an effort would likely provoke widespread popular opposition and noncompliance. Indeed, Russia lacks the resources to properly train, equip, and support their current forces, so an expansion via mobilization is implausible.

[BroJoeK]

adorno: "Russia can't advance anywhere and they're being pushed back everywhere, even if the push-back is slow and could take many months or years to kick the Russian out."

Brezhnev launched Afghanistan, Gorbachev ended it:

Sure, there are many very optimistic YouTubers posting videos claiming Russia is finished, and there is certainly lots of evidence that Russia is hurting.
But finished?

As best I can tell, the current rate of Ukrainian advances is roughly the same as Russian advances into Ukraine since 2023, meaning a few square miles per day.
At that rate it will be many years before Ukrainians liberate all Russian occupied Ukrainian lands.

That means the war will likely outlast Putin.
What happens in Putin's absence is anybody's guess; my guess is a rough repeat of the 1979-1989 Afghanistan invasion, meaning, Ukraine still has many years of suffering ahead of it.

Yes, of course, it's the nature of dictatorships that they appear "tough as nails" until the day they collapse, and that collapse can happen at almost any moment.
So, maybe it won't take 10 long years of war in Ukraine.
We can always hope for the best, and pray for Ukrainians.