Senior US officials, including Donald Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff and top diplomat Marco Rubio, are set to meet with European counterparts in Paris on Thursday to discuss strategies for ending the war in Ukraine. The talks, hosted by French President Emmanuel Macron, mark the highest level of transatlantic engagement on the conflict since February.
Ukraine’s foreign and defense ministers have arrived in Paris to participate in the discussions, which will include meetings at the Élysée Palace with Macron, the UK’s National Security Advisor Jonathan Powell, and other European security officials. A separate gathering of foreign ministers, expected to include UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy, will also take place.
European diplomats have signaled they will push the US to increase pressure on Russia to agree to an unconditional ceasefire. “We want the US to use a bit more stick,” one official said. The talks come amid escalating violence, including a recent Russian missile strike in Sumy that killed at least 35 people and injured 117, as well as attacks in Kryvyi Rih and Dnipro that claimed more civilian lives.
The US State Department stated the focus would be on ending the fighting, with Witkoff providing an update on his recent meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Meanwhile, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s chief of staff, Andriy Yermak, emphasized that Kyiv is working on “important issues for the security of Ukraine and the whole of Europe.”
The Kremlin, however, dismissed the discussions, with spokesman Dmitry Peskov accusing European leaders of prioritizing war over peace. The talks also unfold against a backdrop of strained US-Ukraine relations, particularly after a tense exchange between Trump and Zelensky in February, where the US president criticized Ukraine for not engaging in peace talks sooner.
Trump has previously claimed he could resolve the war “in 24 hours,” and his administration has sought to mend ties with Moscow while pushing for a ceasefire. However, Zelensky has insisted that any peace agreement must involve Ukraine’s direct participation.
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