War

1575th day. Friedrich Merz: “Perhaps for the first time there is a chance for peace.” At the G7 summit, Trump (unexpectedly for many) agreed with Europe to put pressure on Moscow together

Since February 24, 2022, Meduza has been broadcasting live about the Russian-Ukrainian war. We publish your letters every day because we are sure that we need to continue talking about the war. Share with us your thoughts about the war. What feelings are you experiencing? How does war affect your life and your attitude towards the world? If you have a story related to the war, tell it . The feedback form is at the end of this article. A review of the previous day can be read here .

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The G7 countries at the summit in France agreed to increase pressure on the Russian economy and increase arms supplies to Ukraine. An official communiqué on this was adopted following the second day of the meeting.

The G7 countries agreed that they would increase the supply of air defense systems and interceptor missiles, as well as long-range weapons. In addition, the G7 plans to issue special licenses to Ukraine, which will allow the legal production of foreign weapons directly at Ukrainian factories.

The G7 leaders also agreed to tighten sanctions against the Russian Federation, “in particular in the oil and gas sector.” Their message emphasizes that now is “the right moment to introduce additional measures”, since the United States and Iran have agreed to open the Strait of Hormuz.

As Politico writes , citing diplomatic sources, European leaders at the summit “felt unexpected optimism” about cooperation with the United States, although before the summit they feared another conflict with Donald Trump. The US President has shown his readiness to increase pressure on Vladimir Putin in exchange for European assistance in ensuring security in the Strait of Hormuz.

Trump said on the eve of the summit that concluding an agreement with Iran would allow him to once again fully engage in resolving the Russian-Ukrainian conflict. This, Politico writes, caused a “wave of concern” in Europe: there were fears that the US President would again begin to put pressure on Ukraine, nullifying months of efforts to put pressure on the Russian Federation.

However, in the end, Trump “took the summit participants by surprise” when, after a meeting with Vladimir Zelensky, he announced that he plans to return sanctions against Russian oil, which were temporarily lifted amid fuel shortages on world markets.

Following the negotiations, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz wrote on social network X: “Perhaps for the first time there is a chance for peace.”

In a conversation with reporters, Merz called June 16 a “day of hope,” emphasizing that his talks with Trump instilled “a certain confidence that Europeans and Americans are now working together to end the war.” Asked whether Trump would support new sanctions and European participation in future negotiations, the chancellor said the issue was “not even in question.”

Merz also said that, together with Zelensky, he brought to Trump’s attention: Ukraine and Europe are ready for peace negotiations. “However, these negotiations must start from the right position,” the German Chancellor emphasized. He did not specify what this position was, but called Russia’s demand to give it Donbass “unacceptable.”

War in photographs. Queues at gas stations in annexed regions

War through the eyes of Meduza readers

How we choose letters

Meduza's readers live in different countries and have different attitudes towards the war. We publish your letters to see this event through your eyes. Our editors try to present all points of view, even if they do not coincide with the editorial position. However, in accordance with the Meduza code, we do not publish messages that contain “hate speech,” justify the murder of civilians, or express direct support for an aggressive war.

Igor (Shchelkovo) . What’s most frightening is when Meduza posts screenshots from telegram channels in the news about shellings. Lights and laughter icons under every attack. Children were killed in a dorm in Lugansk - everyone is happy and puts a fire emoji. They fired at a residential building in the Dnieper - others are rejoicing and laughing. A missile hits the market, people are killed, someone is injured, someone is ruined - the first reaction is always light and laughter. And it doesn’t matter which side, it doesn’t matter who died. In the first place there will be a malicious laugh.

The whole war is a continuous laughter of those who did not fly in, at those whom they do not know. And the war will last as long as people consider this normal, because it makes them happy and it is being done for their sake. While you are happy about the deaths, the old people at the top will wage war, and it doesn’t matter where it will take place - Ukraine, Iran, Cuba, Transnistria, Chechnya, Armenia, the former Yugoslavia...

This concert is at your request, because you are happy about it. Bread and circuses. And when there is no bread, they give spectacles.

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