By Elizabeth Pineau and Michel Rose
PARIS () – European and Ukrainian officials kicked off a day of talks in Paris on Thursday to plead Kyiv’s case to U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and President Donald Trump’s envoy Steve Witkoff.
The high level diplomacy reflects Europe’s mounting concern over the U.S. administration’s overtures towards Moscow, after the failure so far of Trump’s efforts to arrange a ceasefire in the three-year-old Russia-Ukraine war. The U.S. officials were also due to discuss nuclear talks with Iran during their visit to Paris.
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 U.S. 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 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,” Trump said of the war on Sunday.
French President Emmanuel Macron’s foreign policy advisor Emmanuel Bonne hugged Witkoff as he arrived at the French presidency’s Elysee Palace for talks, before a lunch between Macron, Witkoff, and Rubio.
Before that, 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, Yermak was due to take part in a meeting with Rubio, 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 Rubio, 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 characterized the Paris gatherings as an opportunity for Witkoff, who had a five-hour meeting with President Vladimir Putin last week, to update European officials on the progress of discussions regarding the efforts to find a peaceful resolution to the conflict in Ukraine.
IRAN TALKS
Besides talking about the conflict in Ukraine, both U.S. and French authorities mentioned that they will also address America’s initiatives aimed at reaching an agreement over Iran’s nuclear program.
Witkoff intends to travel to Rome to continue negotiations on Saturday with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi regarding Iran’s nuclear program. Their previous meeting lasted 45 minutes in Oman last Saturday.
Each side viewed the discussions from last weekend optimistically, even though they recognized that reaching an agreement is still quite far off.
In 2018, Trump withdrew from a previous nuclear agreement with Iran during his initial term. On Monday, he stated that he would consider military action against Iran’s nuclear sites if negotiations for a fresh accord did not succeed.
Before Trump revealed the news, the United States hadn’t informed European nations about the nuclear discussions taking place in Oman.
(Reported by Steve Holland in Washington and Elizabeth Pineau and Michel Rose in Paris; extra reporting provided by Anastasiia Malenko; written by Ingrid Melander and Steve Holland; Edited by Humeyra Pamuk and Peter Graff)
