Trump Arrives At G7 Summit Looking For Momentum After Announcing Deal To End Iran War

EVIAN-LES-BAINS, France (AP) — President Donald Trump started his visit G7 summit Major industrialized countries on Monday his agreement Aims to destroy the USA war with Iran This is a potential breakthrough for global security and a chance for the United States to finally turn a new page in its relations with its long-time foe Iran.

The Republican US president tried to make it clear that he had arrived in Evian-les-Bains with the wind at his back, for talks with G7 leaders on the sidelines. sharply critical on his handling of the 15-week conflict that has led to a surge in global energy prices – but he did not appear willing to immediately reveal details of the resulting deal.

Some of those details will still be negotiated in talks over the next 60 days, but Trump said the memorandum of understanding would likely be released after it is signed on Friday.

“I think a lot of great things are going to happen in the Middle East right now, and most importantly, oil (price) is coming down and the stock market is going up like a rocket today,” Trump said in a meeting with summit host French President Emmanuel Macron before attending a working lunch with other leaders.

“The Iran deal we made will bring a lot of success to the world,” he said.

Trump had a conflict with British Prime Minister Macron Keir StarmerGerman Chancellor Friedrich Merz and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni for not consulting them before deciding to go to war. But before you sign a deal We’re heading to the top can change the dynamic of the three-day meeting.

Macron congratulated Trump at the beginning of Monday’s meeting for finding a way to reach an agreement.

“This is a very important issue for the peace of the whole world,” Macron said.

Trump turned down four European leaders, members of the NATO military alliance, over their lack of support for the United States in the conflict.

He is expected to meet with leaders Clearing the Strait of Hormuz of mines. England and France announced Willingness to help clear mines When combat is paused. Fear of potential mines is among the reasons why tanker traffic came to a halt during the war, and their rapid clearance will be crucial to regaining the confidence of merchant ships.

Macron said on Monday that France was ready to take action within days to deploy assets, including mine-clearing ships, to the region to assist.

Although the agreement calls for the immediate opening of the strait and the lifting of the US naval blockade, it will take weeks for traffic to return to previous levels, senior US officials told reporters.

Macron invited leaders of three countries that are not part of the G7 – Egypt, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates – to attend a session on the Middle East on Tuesday, where Iran is expected to be the focus.

Trump has strongly criticized President Barack Obama for the 2015 nuclear deal, which he said failed to stop Tehran’s weapons advance and funneled billions of dollars into the Islamic Republic’s coffers.

Trump withdrew from the agreement known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action in 2018. Britain, China, France, Germany, Russia and the European Union were also signatories of the agreement.

Trump avoided comparisons to the Obama-era nuclear deal in an interview with The New York Times on Sunday. “We negotiated vigorously,” Trump said. “He was basically paying them.”

But Trump did not explain how his deal would address some key issues, including who would be responsible for Iran’s nuclear program. verifying that Iran complies Under the agreement, who will destroy or extract 972 pounds (441 kilograms) of highly enriched uranium believed to be buried underground? heavily damaged nuclear sites With the US attacks last summer.

The memorandum of understanding also includes the possibility of releasing Iran’s frozen funds. easing of sanctions A $300 billion fund to help Iran rebuild will be contingent on Tehran meeting certain criteria aimed at assuaging the White House’s concerns, senior US officials told reporters on Monday.

Some Democrats and hawkish critics say Trump has not explained how financial aid in the deal would differ from what Obama did in the 2015 nuclear deal.

“For all their criticism of the JCPOA, we had international observers, we actually had an alliance there that included the Europeans, and Russia and China were all signatories,” Sen said. Mark WarnerThe top Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee told CBS’ “Face the Nation” on Sunday.

Republican Sen. Lindsey GrahamTrump, a close Trump ally and an Iran hawk, has expressed skepticism and said he expects Congress will need to review and vote on any nuclear deal with Iran. vance – “architect of the agreement” – to present it.

“I am concerned that Iran’s view of the agreement differs from what the American negotiating team claims,” ​​Graham said on social media.

The leaders are expected to discuss a range of economic and trade issues. Trump told the New York Post that he warned Macron that the United States would have no choice but to impose 100% tariffs on French wines unless Paris was eliminated. digital tax He is renewing his longstanding threat to American tech companies, dating back to his first administration.

Wines and spirits exported from the European Union to the United States currently face a 15% tariff.

“It is not for the United States to decide what European or French law should be,” Macron said in an interview with broadcaster TF1 on Monday.

Macron also invited the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy for a working session with G7 leaders on Tuesday to discuss Russia-Ukraine war.

Zelenskyy is not currently scheduled to have a one-on-one meeting with Trump while they are both in France, but Trump had separate phone calls with Zelenskyy and the Russian President on Sunday. Vladimir Putin.

Russian Vice President Yuri Ushakov told reporters that Trump He stressed the need to end hostilities He met with Ukraine and expressed readiness to influence European allies, including the G7, and Kiev towards this goal.

A Ukrainian official speaking to the Associated Press said that Zelenskyy offered Putin to meet with Trump and European leaders at the G7 meeting, but the Kremlin did not respond. The official was not authorized to speak publicly about the matter and spoke on condition of anonymity.

Putin wanted by the International Criminal Court War crimes allegationand France, as a member of the ICC, will have to arrest him. The United States and Russia oppose the court.

Trump suggested that after the Iran deal he would now have more bandwidth to focus on the Russia-Ukraine war.

“Now that this is over, we will focus on that,” he said. Diplomatic efforts to stop the conflict followed Large-scale occupation of Moscow From his neighbor in February 2022.

Madhani reported from Geneva, AP writers Samuel Petrequin and John Leicester from Paris; Volodymyr Yurchuk in Kyiv, Ukraine; Michelle L. Price and Collin Binkley in Washington; and Tom Beaumont in Des Moines, Iowa, contributed reporting.