'I'm the boss', Trump says at G7, as he warms to Ukraine's war aims

EVIAN-LES-BAINS, France - President Donald Trump on Wednesday told a roomful of global leaders, “I’m the boss”, as he and other G7 heads acknowledged Ukraine’s improved battlefield fortunes with a unified pledge of support and fresh sanctions against Russia. 

Trump’s comment -- a tongue-in-cheek acknowledgment of an unspoken truth hanging over the June 15 to 17 summit of the Group of Seven Western powers in the French resort of Evian-les-Bains -- followed a joint leaders’ statement that could bolster Kyiv’s growing leverage in potential peace talks with Moscow.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and his allies came to the G7 hoping to convince Trump that Ukraine’s fightback is delivering results, and that Russia is in no position to dictate terms for any peace deal.

Trump describes Russia as ‘offensive’ party

The joint statement and comments from leaders suggest Trump has warmed to Zelenskyy’s argument after years of skepticism. 

Trump told a press conference that Russia was losing more soldiers than Ukraine in the war, describing Moscow as the “offensive” party in the conflict.

Trump showed a “real change in approach” regarding the Ukraine war, French President Emmanuel Macron said earlier in the day. Other European leaders made similar comments.

A G7 summit in Canada last year ended without any joint stance on Ukraine. This time, ahead of a glitzy dinner in the Versailles palace, both Macron and Trump called the G7 summit a success.

However, any hopes of strong-arming Moscow into peace talks still rely on Trump’s commitments, which can be elusive. 

The U.S. president made his “I’m the boss” remark to G7 chiefs and reporters as he arrived to take his seat at a session on global economic security. 

Hours after Zelenskyy spoke with Trump and European leaders, Russia attacked Kyiv with missiles, local authorities said on Thursday, as they urged residents to take shelter.

A Reuters witness heard explosions in Kyiv, while authorities of the northeastern Ukrainian city of Sumy said one person was killed in a drone attack, as air strike alerts were issued for most of Ukraine’s territory.

“The enemy is attacking the capital with ballistic missiles. Stay in safe places until the air raid alert is over!” Tymur Tkachenko, the head of Kyiv’s military administration, said in a Telegram post early on Thursday.

The strike on Kyiv is the second air attack by Russia this week. A 1,000-year-old monastery that symbolizes Ukraine’s spiritual and cultural heritage was badly damaged on Monday in a major attack by Russia that killed 10 people and drew condemnation from European leaders.

In the Ukrainian city of Enerhodar, where most of the staff of the Russian-held Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant live, Russia-appointed Mayor Maksim Pukhov said on Telegram that Ukrainian strikes killed one person and injured four.

In Russia’s Belgorod border region, local officials said a Ukrainian drone strike killed one man in his car. On Wednesday, Moscow had accused Ukraine of attacking a bus carrying Belarusian schoolchildren, an allegation Kyiv said was “false”.

Reuters could not independently verify the reports.

Critical minerals

Separately, G7 leaders agreed to step up coordination to cut their countries’ reliance on China for critical minerals, including plans to align stockpiling and launch a new platform with an expanded role for the International Energy Agency. 

Western powers are racing to diversify their sources of metals critical to defense, tech and renewable energy and reduce their over-reliance on China for these products. 

Some industries around the world nearly ground to a halt after Beijing imposed export curbs on permanent magnets made of rare earths.

Measures under discussion in recent months have included price supports, market standards, subsidies and guaranteed purchases, as well as ways to scale up private investment in critical mineral supply chains outside China. Any measures announced at the G7 are likely to be only first steps. 

The United States in early 2026 proposed a trading bloc for critical minerals. However, countries are at odds over how this bloc could operate, especially in the context of the White House’s “America First” agenda.

G7 leaders also discussed AI over lunch, including the liability of bots and agents, and how AI presents truth and falsehood with tech bosses, including OpenAI co-founder Sam Altman and Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei. 

Additional reporting by Julia Payne, Doina Chiacu, Jekaterina Golubkova and Ronald Popeski.

Copyright Reuters or USA Today Network via Reuters Connect.

This story was originally published June 17, 2026 at 8:23 AM.