G7 leaders tighten oil and gas sanctions on Russia at Évian summit, pledge more long-range weapons for Ukraine

The Évian package

The leaders of the G7 democracies wrapped their summit in the French town of Évian with a joint statement that tightens sanctions on Russia, especially in the oil and gas sector, and commits to expanding the supply of long-range weapons and air-defence capabilities to Ukraine. The communiqué frames the measures as a way to force new negotiations over an end to the war, now in its fifth year.

The tide is turning for Ukraine. While Ukraine is holding the front bravely, Russia's exhaustion is showing openly. The situation in 2026 is very different from that in 2025.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy travelled to Évian for the summit. He held a working session with the G7 heads of state and government on the morning of 16 June, and later met Germany's Friedrich Merz to discuss further strengthening of Ukraine's air defences. Details of that conversation were not disclosed.

Sanctions on the shadow fleet and arms supply chains

Britain and Canada announced concrete new designations. The UK imposed 70 new sanctions targeting Russia's shadow fleet, military supply chains, and illicit financial networks used to circumvent existing restrictions. The goal, London said, is to cut off the procurement of Western technology for the Russian military. Canada added 162 persons, companies, and vessels to its sanctions list, according to Prime Minister Mark Carney.

There was a real consensus in the room among the G7 that the sanctions are showing genuine effect, given that Ukraine is having successes and recapturing territory.

The United States has so far acted as the sole mediator between Ukraine and Russia. Donald Trump's efforts to broker an end to the war produced no tangible results and nearly ground to a halt during the conflict with Iran. Germany, France, and Britain now want to restart the diplomatic track and insist that Europeans must have a seat at the table in any future negotiations.

A new offer to Putin

According to information from the Deutsche Presse-Agentur, the G7 participants are considering making a fresh offer of talks to Russian President Vladimir Putin. One option floated by summit participants is to organise negotiations on the margins of the next UN General Assembly. Trump announced midday that he intends to meet Zelenskyy again during the summit, though he left open whether it would be a bilateral meeting or include other participants.

The Su-24 crash

Away from the summit, a Ukrainian Su-24 combat jet crashed in the Khmelnytskyi region in western Ukraine on the evening of 16 June. Both pilots died, the Ukrainian Air Force confirmed. The military said the causes and circumstances of the disaster are under investigation. The loss of any single fighter jet weighs heavily on Kyiv, given Russia's overwhelming numerical advantage in combat aircraft, which it has repeatedly used for air strikes on Ukrainian territory.

Swiss domestic side notes

The Council of States, Switzerland's upper house, approved an army procurement package worth roughly 3.4 billion Swiss francs without amendments, including an additional credit for new fighter jets. A separate survey showed a relative majority of 46 percent would back the EU treaty package known as Bilaterale III in a referendum, with 40 percent opposed and 14 percent undecided. The vote is not expected before 2028.