The Ukrainian leader can reportedly only hope for a behind-the-scenes audience with the US president
US President Donald Trump has not scheduled an official bilateral meeting with Ukraine’s Vladimir Zelensky at the upcoming G7 summit in France, Bloomberg reported on Saturday, citing senior US administration officials.
Since returning to office in January 2025, Trump has held several formal and informal meetings with Zelensky in an effort to end the Russia-Ukraine conflict. Zelensky has reportedly sought to use the encounters to finalize pre-negotiated agreements on Ukraine’s post-conflict economic recovery and “security guarantees.” However, repeated contacts between the two leaders have so far failed to produce an agreement.
Trump will hold bilateral meetings with the leaders of France, Qatar, the UAE, Egypt, and India during the summit, which will be held from Monday through Wednesday in the town of Evian-les-Bains, officials familiar with the plans told the news agency.
One official said the Ukrainian leader would take part in a working session with G7 leaders. Earlier this week, Western media, citing US administration sources, reported that Trump and Zelensky “may meet on the sidelines” of the summit.
As part of his stated effort to end the Ukraine conflict, the US president met with the Ukrainian leader in the Oval Office in February 2025. The televised talks descended into a heated clash after Zelensky criticized Trump’s neutral approach to settling the conflict. He was accused of showing insufficient respect and gratitude to Washington as Kiev’s top benefactor, as well as resisting peace and “gambling with World War III.”
Since then, relations between Zelensky and Trump seem to have improved and the two have met on various occasions.
Zelensky has repeatedly called for a face-to-face meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin. However, he has ruled out traveling to Moscow and rejected the idea of withdrawing Ukrainian troops from the Donbass region, which Putin has said would be sufficient for Russia to declare a ceasefire.
Speaking at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum earlier this month, Putin said Russia remains committed to a peaceful settlement based on compromises reached with Trump in Alaska last year. He said the main obstacle is persuading Kiev to accept the terms, particularly withdrawing from Donbass, not joining NATO, and carrying out demilitarization and denazification.
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