French President Emmanuel Macron said that after returning to the White House in early 2025, Donald Trump initially believed Ukraine would lose the war with Russia, but later revised that view.
“He thought Ukraine would lose. Things went badly in the Oval Office during the meeting with Zelensky, and then the Trump-Putin summit raised hopes for a deal under which Ukraine was supposed to hand over territories that Russia had not even captured yet,” Macron said in an interview with France TV.
According to the French president, after the summit in Anchorage, European leaders came to Washington to try to persuade Trump otherwise and tell him that such an approach was unacceptable.
“Since then, an enormous distance has been covered. And that path is, above all, a victory for the Ukrainians,” Macron said.
He added that Trump had seen that earlier predictions claiming Ukrainian forces would collapse quickly and fail to survive the winter had proved false.
On June 16–17, France hosted the G7 summit, which was attended by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. During the gathering, he held talks with Trump and Macron.
According to Politico, Trump urged other G7 leaders at the summit to help the United States clear mines in the Strait of Hormuz in exchange for support for Ukraine.