G7 Day 2: European Leaders Test Trump on Deal Durability; Missile-Capability Exclusion Is Principal European Concern
G7 leaders began their first full day of summit talks Tuesday in Evian-les-Bains, France. European leaders will warn President Donald Trump that a superficial interim Iran deal carries durability risks; the structural European concern is the missile-capability exclusion from the operative memorandum of understanding. Russia-Ukraine sanctions, NATO spending and AI are also on the Tuesday agenda. Japan’s PM Sanae Takaichi welcomed the memorandum of understanding between the US and Iran as “a significant step toward reducing regional tensions” and proposed a joint critical-minerals stockpiling initiative.
The European pushback on the framework durability is the structural test of the transatlantic alignment after the Sunday signing. The missile-capability exclusion is the principal concern: the operative MoU explicitly excludes Iranian missile capabilities, which the UK, France and Germany consider the principal medium-term proliferation risk. The nuclear-programme follow-up talks are expected to begin in Geneva or Vienna within 4-6 weeks; the European G7 position is that the missile-capability question must be included in the follow-up scope. Italian PM Giorgia Meloni and French President Emmanuel Macron are the principal continental interlocutors; Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva attends as an invited guest. The Takaichi critical-minerals stockpiling proposal is the structural Japanese response to the post-framework supply-chain re-architecture.