G7 Leaders Waited Nearly An Hour For Trump, Macron, And Zelensky

• 16.06.2026, 12:28

They arrived at the meeting together.

On Tuesday, June 16, a key meeting of G7 leaders is taking place in France. However, it began nearly an hour late: as reported by The Guardian, the leaders waited an unexpectedly long time for Donald Trump, Emmanuel Macron, and Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

A Guardian correspondent reports that most of the G7 leaders had to wait nearly an hour for the meeting to begin in Évian-les-Bains. U.S. President Donald Trump, summit host Emmanuel Macron, and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy—who was invited as a guest to the meeting—were absent from the hall where the key meeting was to begin.

The journalist noted that such a wait was “very unusual” and “absolutely strange” for the leaders of the EU, Canada, Germany, Italy, Japan, and the UK. According to his observations, the heads of state informed the crowd several times that the meeting was about to begin. British Prime Minister Keir Starmer tried to figure out what was going on, asking if “they” were holding the meeting. “But the longer this goes on, the better,” Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney reportedly replied, likely referring to a potential meeting of the absent participants, the publication writes.

Earlier reports indicated that Zelenskyy and Macron held a brief bilateral meeting before the start of the G7 summit. It remains unclear whether Trump ultimately joined them.

But subsequently, all three entered the hall together, after which the G7 leaders finally began the meeting.