UNITED KINGDOM PERSPECTIVE

London, 14 June 2026. The United Kingdom arrives at the G7 summit in Evian-les-Bains in an uncomfortable position. The dramatic resignation of Defence Secretary John Healey — who accused Prime Minister Keir Starmer of being 'incapable' of defending the country against Budget Chancellor Rachel Reeves's spending constraints — casts a shadow over every bilateral meeting scheduled for the summit. According to the Daily Mail, the Defence Ministry requested 28 billion pounds by 2030; the final offer stands at approximately 10 billion pounds over four years, representing a rise of only 0.08 per cent of GDP. Armed Forces Minister Al Carns also resigned, leaving Dan Jarvis to inherit a portfolio under considerable strain on the eve of a summit supposed to debate collective security.

This domestic tension undermines London's European positioning precisely when the E3 format — United Kingdom, France, Germany — seeks to embody Western commitment to Kyiv. Last Sunday, Starmer, Macron and Merz received Zelensky in London to establish a common line: the current contact line as a negotiation baseline, legally binding security guarantees including a multinational force, and maintenance of the freeze on Russian assets pending reparations. Shortly afterwards, the British, French and German ambassadors were received in Moscow by Lavrov's deputy — which The Independent describes as the direct diplomatic translation of the London summit.

Yet Evian reveals a fundamental fissure. Berlin's abandonment of the joint Franco-German fighter programme (pillar of the Future Combat Air System, launched in 2017), analysed by the BBC, signals that continental solidarity remains fragile. For London, partner in the rival Tempest-GCAP programme with Rome and Tokyo, the Dassault/Airbus discord is an admission of weakness that undermines the European argument vis-a-vis Washington.

Meanwhile, Trump sets the pace. The Independent reports that the American programme prioritises bilaterals with Gulf leaders on Iran and a state dinner at Versailles, while Zelensky finds himself confined to a collective working session with no separate meeting with the American president. For Starmer, already under pressure at Westminster, the absence of a Trump-Zelensky bilateral complicates the case that the E3 remains a useful lever.

The unprecedented security cordon around Lake Geneva reflects the tensions: Franco-Swiss border restrictions described as 'pandemic-like', airspace locked down, Geneva barricaded against anti-capitalist mobilisation explicitly targeting Trump. The memory of the 2003 G8 — when Russia still held a seat at the table — looms over a summit supposed to reaffirm Western cohesion on Ukraine, Iran and global economic imbalances.