G7 Foreign Ministers Meet in Paris on Ukraine, Iran and Repairing Chernobyl's Shield
Foreign Ministers of the Group of Seven (G7): the United Kingdom, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the United States, began two days of talks in Paris on November 9, 2026. It is one of the last events of France's G7 presidency for 2026.
The meeting was first planned for Marseille but was moved to Paris at the last minute, for scheduling reasons. Marseille will still host the launch of a network of 14 global ports working together against drug trafficking.
The main topics are a fair settlement of the Russia-Ukraine war (now close to its fifth year since the full-scale invasion of February 2022) and preventing new military strikes on Iran, so that shipping through the Strait of Hormuz can return to normal.
The meeting comes just before US-mediated talks between Russia and Ukraine in Abu Dhabi on November 10–11. France has said European countries will take part in those talks.
On the sidelines, France's Finance Ministry is hosting a donor conference to repair the giant steel shield over the destroyed Chernobyl reactor in Ukraine, damaged in a drone strike in 2025. About €500 million is needed; just over half has been raised so far, with a target of spring 2027 for the rest.
The United States will take over the G7 presidency from France in 2027.
Group of Seven (G7)
The Group of Seven, or G7, is an informal club of seven rich democracies: the United States, Japan, Germany, the United Kingdom, France, Italy and Canada. The European Union also takes part in all its meetings. Their leaders meet once a year at a summit to discuss the world economy, security, energy, climate and other global problems. The G7 has no treaty, no permanent office and no power to force anyone to do anything; its strength comes from the economic weight of its members.
The Paris meeting is a G7 foreign ministers' meeting under France's 2026 presidency, which hands over to the United States in 2027. It shows the G7 working as a coordination forum: on peace terms for Ukraine, on avoiding a wider war with Iran, and on raising money (the Chernobyl shield fund) for a shared problem.
Chernobyl Nuclear Disaster (1986)
The Chernobyl disaster was the worst accident in the history of nuclear power. On 26 April 1986, reactor No. 4 at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant blew apart during a safety test. The plant is in northern Ukraine (then part of the Soviet Union), close to the border with Belarus. Huge amounts of radioactive material spread over Ukraine, Belarus, Russia and much of Europe, and towns had to be emptied for decades.
The donor conference on the sidelines of the G7 meeting is raising money to fix the New Safe Confinement over Chernobyl's reactor No. 4, damaged by a drone in 2025. About €500 million is needed, but only a little over half has been pledged, so the shield that keeps the 1986 disaster sealed remains at risk.
- G7 Foreign Ministers' meeting: Paris, November 9–10, 2026 (moved from Marseille)
- G7 members: UK, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, US (plus the EU)
- France held the 2026 G7 presidency (leaders' summit at Évian); the US takes over in 2027
- Russia-Ukraine talks mediated by the US in Abu Dhabi: November 10–11, 2026
- Full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine: February 2022
- Chernobyl shield repair: about €500 million needed; just over half raised; target to raise the rest by spring 2027
- Marseille to host launch of a network of 14 global ports against drug trafficking