KYIV, Ukraine — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced Wednesday that leaders from the world’s top industrial nations, gathered at the Group of Seven summit in France, have made important new commitments to support Ukraine in its war against Russia.
The assembled leaders agreed to boost Ukraine’s air defense systems, safeguard the country’s energy infrastructure, and ramp up economic pressure on Moscow through additional sanctions — all as Ukraine’s battle against Russia’s full-scale invasion pushes into a fifth year with no clear end on the horizon.
Zelenskyy, who attended the summit in person, posted on X that the gathering produced meaningful outcomes. “The G7 Summit in France delivered important results for Ukraine. Most importantly, we agreed on additional strengthening of Ukraine’s air defense,” he wrote.
He added that allied nations would continue backing Ukraine’s military and energy stability, saying, “Our partners will ensure support for our defense and energy resilience,” and confirming that new sanctions against Russia would follow.
Since Russia launched its full-scale invasion in February 2022, Zelenskyy has worked tirelessly to build international backing for Ukraine while working to diplomatically isolate Russian President Vladimir Putin on the world stage.
Following the G7 gathering, Zelenskyy was set to travel to Brussels on Thursday for a European Union summit. Ukraine formally began EU membership talks on Monday, kicking off what is expected to be a lengthy process even as the country remains at war.
The ongoing conflict in Iran has pulled Washington’s attention away from its largely unsuccessful year-long push to bring the Ukraine war to an end. Zelenskyy used the G7 gathering — where key European leaders were also present — to engage directly with U.S. President Donald Trump.
Putin, meanwhile, has attempted to sideline both Europe and Kyiv, seeking to negotiate Ukraine’s fate in direct talks with Washington alone.
In a joint statement released overnight, the leaders of Japan, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, Canada, and the United States expressed their backing for Ukraine. “We commend Ukraine for its resilience and progress on the battlefield in recent months and emphasize there is now a new momentum” in Kyiv’s resistance, the statement read.
Western officials and analysts have noted a marked improvement in Ukraine’s battlefield performance in recent months, despite facing a much larger Russian military force.
Advanced Ukrainian drones have been effective at pinning down Russian troops along the front lines, disrupting supply routes in Russian-occupied Ukrainian territory, and striking oil production facilities deep within Russia — a key source of revenue for Moscow. These developments have brought the war into sharper focus for ordinary Russians and increased pressure on Putin.
However, Ukraine is facing a critical shortage of American-made Patriot air defense missiles, partly due to U.S. stockpiles being drawn down by the conflict in the Middle East. That shortage leaves Ukraine exposed to the ballistic missiles Russia deploys in its strategic bombing campaign against Ukrainian cities and infrastructure.
The G7 joint statement pledged additional air defense capabilities for Ukraine, though it did not specify which types of weapons systems would be provided.
Leaders also indicated they would look into allowing Ukraine to obtain licenses to produce Western weapons domestically. Kyiv has specifically requested permission to manufacture Patriot missiles on its own soil.
Among the attacks reported Wednesday, a Russian drone hit a children’s equestrian sports school in Ukraine’s northeastern Sumy region overnight, striking a stable and killing horses. Oleh Hryhorov of the Sumy regional military administration said school staff were unharmed, based on preliminary information.
Russia’s Defense Ministry, meanwhile, reported that its air defenses intercepted 157 Ukrainian drones between late Tuesday and early Wednesday.
