US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and a White House envoy were in Paris on Thursday for talks with French President Emmanuel Macron over a ceasefire in Ukraine, as Washington and Europe seek common ground on ending the war. At the same time, Ukrainian officials were also in the French capital to meet EU and US delegations.
Rubio and Keith Kellogg, United States President Donald Trump's special envoy to Ukraine, arrived in Paris, with US envoy Steve Witkoff expected to join them. Trump's push for a ceasefire has yet to bear fruit despite his pledges to quickly end the war.
Meanwhile Russia's strikes continue to take a heavy toll despite diplomatic efforts, most recently in strikes on Ukraine's cities of Sumy and Kryvyi Rig, which killed dozens of people, including several children.
Late on Wednesday, a Russian drone attack on the Ukrainian city of Dnipro killed three people, including a young girl, authorities said.
Macron, EU leaders slam Russian strike on Ukrainian city of Sumy
French lead
Macron has taken the lead in seeking to forge a coordinated European response to defending Ukraine, both during the current conflict and in its eventual aftermath, following Trump's shock move of opening direct negotiations with Russia.
France and UK rally allies for potential security force in Ukraine
Zelensky's chief of staff Andriy Yermak said he and foreign minister Andriy Sybiga, as well as defence minister Rustem Umerov, were in Paris to meet with officials from France, Germany the United Kingdom and the US, although he did not specify who they would be meeting.
A French diplomatic source earlier said that Rubio and France's foreign minister Jean-Noel Barrot would discuss "the war in Ukraine, the situation in the Middle East and the Iranian nuclear file".
This is the first time high-level American officials have travelled to France since US Vice-President JD Vance attended a summit on artificial intelligence in February.
Witkoff said on Monday, days after his third meeting with Putin, that he sees a peace deal "emerging".
As war grinds on, Ukraine's seniors suffer
The Paris talks also follow discussions between the US and Iran on Tehran's nuclear programme, held on Saturday in Oman. Witkoff met Iranian foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi.
Both sides described the talks as positive, while acknowledging that any potential deal remained distant. Another round is scheduled for 19 April, also in Oman.
Trump said on Monday that he was willing to bomb Iran’s nuclear facilities if a deal was not reached.
French defence minister Sebastien Lecornu will travel to Washington on Thursday. He is set to meet US defence secretary Pete Hegseth for talks on a number of issues including Ukraine, Iran and Gaza.
(with AFP)
