A hot mic at the G7 summit has captured French President Emmanuel Macron revealing he had a “difficult” meeting with President Donald Trump on Monday evening.
The brief exchange, recorded as Macron greeted Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on the sidelines of the summit, suggests that relations between the U.S. and France remain tense after the two countries have clashed over tariffs, the war in Iran, and Trump’s threat to annex Greenland.
“Yesterday we had a difficult discussion with President Trump,” Macron told Zelensky.
Macron then urged Zelensky to remain at the gathering longer, but the Ukrainian president replied that he was expected in Brussels.
The French leader went on to ask whether Zelensky had secured a bilateral meeting with Trump. When Zelensky said he had not, Macron responded: “Okay, I will arrange that.”
Macron has been acting as an intermediary between Trump and Zelensky as European leaders push for the U.S. president to support a Ukraine peace deal on Kyiv’s terms rather than Moscow’s.
The relationship between Trump and Zelensky has been frayed since a meeting between the two men in the Oval Office in February 2025 devolved into a highly public confrontation.
Trump and Vice President JD Vance accused Zelensky of being “disrespectful” and tried to pressure him to accept a deal to end the war with Russia, with Trump warning that the U.S. could withdraw support for Ukraine.
The tense exchange led to the cancellation of a planned joint press conference and a minerals agreement, and Zelensky left the White House early after the talks collapsed. The Trump administration also briefly suspended U.S. intelligence sharing and military aid to Ukraine.
Since then, the two leaders have met on multiple occasions, but relations remain strained, with European allies increasingly acting as intermediaries between Kyiv and Washington as they try to negotiate a peace deal with Russia.
Trump, who previously said he would solve the Russia-Ukraine war on day one of his second term, has so far failed to negotiate a peace deal, with U.S.-led peace talks stalling.
Asked why U.S.-led peace talks had stalled in January, Trump blamed the victim of the invasion, claiming it was the Ukrainian leader’s fault. Asked directly what was standing in the way, he gave a one-word answer to Reuters: “Zelensky.”
At the same time, Trump argued that Moscow is prepared to conclude the conflict, saying Russian President Vladimir Putin is eager to bring the nearly four-year invasion to a close.
“I think he’s ready to make a deal,” Trump said, adding, “I think Ukraine is less ready to make a deal,” directly contradicting European allies, who have long maintained that Moscow is not genuinely interested in ending the conflict, instead aiming to seize additional territory while avoiding new Western sanctions.
But relations between Ukraine and the U.S. appear to have now stabilized, with Trump and Zelensky meeting at the G7 summit on Tuesday.
Trump said he had a “very good meeting” with Zelensky, adding that the pair will meet again later today.
He also said “Russia should make a deal” with Ukraine.
But Zelensky has urged Trump to put more pressure on Russia to agree to a peace deal.
“Trump can do it, or only maybe only him,” Zelensky said.
