With the Iranian conflict winding down, the Group of Seven convened Thursday to execute the delicate diplomatic maneuver of suddenly remembering Eastern Europe. Host Emmanuel Macron politely reminded the assembled heads of state that a massive land war was still occurring on their continent.
CHANTILLY, France — A light drizzle slicked the cobblestones outside the Château de Chantilly on Thursday morning, carrying the faint scent of wet cedar and espresso from the press pavilion. Inside, beneath the gold-leaf ceilings of the Grande Singerie, the leaders of the Group of Seven gathered to execute a delicate bureaucratic maneuver: formally transferring their remaining geopolitical concern from Iran back to Ukraine.
The pivot follows U.S. President Donald Trump’s announcement of an agreement to end the American military campaign against Iran, abruptly closing the Middle Eastern theater that had wholly consumed the G7’s collective focus for the past month.
With the Iranian crisis winding down, summit host and French President Emmanuel Macron opened the first plenary session by politely reminding the assembled heads of state that a massive artillery war was still actively occurring on the eastern edge of their own continent. Diplomatic sources reported a brief silence in the room as German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer visibly strained to recall where they had left off regarding the defense of Kyiv.
It is very difficult to pivot one's deep, unwavering solidarity on a dime.
By mid-morning, aides were seen discreetly swapping the summit’s Iran-centric crisis dossiers for slightly dustier Ukraine binders, while staff replaced the Persian tea service with sparkling mineral water. According to a leaked draft of the afternoon communique, the G7 will unanimously agree to resume noticing the Russian invasion by next Tuesday, provided no one checks their phones for developing news out of Taiwan.