Trump Stays Busy at G7 Summit, Pressing Ukraine Peace Talks and Expressing Frustration With Israel

President Trump had a full morning at the G7 summit in France Tuesday, sitting down with world leaders and taking questions from the press on some of the most pressing global conflicts of the moment.

Trump took part in a working session that included Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, followed by an unscheduled meeting with Zelenskyy and French President Emmanuel Macron. More talks were planned for later in the day. 

From there, the president sat down with the Emir of Qatar for a bilateral meeting, where reporters pressed him on the ongoing war in Ukraine and a recent peace deal reached with Iran. Trump pushed back on reports that the U.S. would be investing money in Iran as part of that agreement. "We have no obligation to invest any money in Iran," he said.

On Ukraine, Trump expressed growing frustration that a peace deal has not come together, noting that he had spoken with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Sunday. "Russia should make a deal," Trump said. "Last month, they lost 35,000 soldiers between the two. This is on a monthly basis." He described the losses on both sides as senseless, calling it "not since World War Two has anything like this happened," and said he planned to meet with Putin again later Tuesday.

Trump also used the moment to break from his typically close alignment with Israel, expressing direct criticism of how Israeli forces have handled operations in Lebanon. "Israel is fighting Hezbollah too long, and too many people being killed," he said. Trump suggested Israel allow Syria to take a larger role in dealing with Hezbollah. "I'm not happy with the way Israel has handled themselves with Lebanon and with Hezbollah."

Additional meetings were expected to continue throughout the afternoon.