European and Ukrainian officials kicked off a day of talks in Paris on Thursday to plead Kyiv’s case to US secretary of state Marco Rubio and president Donald Trump’s envoy Steve Witkoff.
The high level diplomacy reflects Europe’s mounting concern over the US administration’s overtures towards Moscow, after the failure so far of Mr Trump’s efforts to arrange a ceasefire in the three-year-old Russia-Ukraine war.
The US officials were also due to discuss nuclear talks with Iran during their visit to Paris.
Mr Trump, who has long said he aims to swiftly end the Ukraine war, has indicated he is frustrated with both Moscow and Kyiv, even as his administration has shifted US rhetoric towards accommodating the Russian account of the conflict.
Ukraine agreed to a Trump proposal last month for a ceasefire which Russia rejected. The sides have agreed only to curbs on attacks against energy targets and at sea, which both accuse each other of violating.
Kyiv and its European allies say Moscow is to blame for rejecting Mr Trump’s proposal of a ceasefire last month, and are hoping to persuade Washington to take a tougher line. They have pressed the case since a Russian attack that killed civilians including Ukrainian Christian worshippers in the city of Sumy on Sunday.
“I’m just trying to get it stopped so that we can save a lot of lives,” Mr Trump said of the war on Sunday.
French president Emmanuel Macron’s foreign policy adviser Emmanuel Bonne hugged Mr Witkoff as he arrived at the French presidency’s Elysee Palace for talks, before a lunch between Mr Macron, Mr Witkoff, and Mr Rubio.
Before that, Mr Bonne and his British and German counterparts met Andriy Yermak, the chief of staff of Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy. According to the French agenda for the day, Mr Yermak was due to take part in a meeting with Mr Rubio, Mr Witkoff and the European envoys later on Thursday.
The arrival of a Ukrainian delegation in Paris was not previously announced ahead of what Washington had described as planned talks between Mr Rubio, Mr Witkoff and French officials.
“We are working on important issues for the security of Ukraine and the whole of Europe,” Yermak said on X.
Ukrainian foreign minister Andrii Sybiha said: “The parties will discuss ways to achieve a complete ceasefire, the involvement of a multinational military contingent to guarantee sustainable peace, further development of Ukraine’s security architecture and ensuring the security of our country.”
The Kremlin described the Paris meetings as a chance for Mr Witkoff, who met Russian president Vladimir Putin for five hours last week, to inform Europeans of the status of talks about the search for a peace settlement in Ukraine.
In addition to discussing the war in Ukraine, US and French officials said they would also discuss Washington’s efforts to reach a nuclear deal with Iran.
Mr Witkoff plans to fly on to Rome for a second round of discussions on Saturday with Iranian foreign minister Abbas Araghchi about Iran’s nuclear programme. They met for 45 minutes last Saturday in Oman.
Both sides described last weekend’s talks as positive while acknowledging that any potential deal remains distant.
Mr Trump, who abandoned an earlier nuclear deal with Iran during his first term in 2018, said on Monday he was willing to bomb Iran’s nuclear facilities if a new deal was not reached.
The United States had not told European countries about the nuclear talks in Oman before Mr Trump announced them. – Reuters
