US officials met Ukrainian, European officials for Ukraine peace talks
France hosted high-level talks Thursday to discuss Ukraine and its security, the first time since President Donald Trump's inauguration that top American, Ukrainian and European officials are known to have met together to discuss an end to the war.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and presidential envoy Steve Witkoff joined other top Ukrainian and European officials for hours of separate meetings at the French presidential palace before French President Emmanuel Macron brought them all together for a final round of talks at the end of the day.
Macron described the talks as an important 맥스카지노convergence." France announced that talks in the same format would continue in London next week.
The meetings came as concerns grow about Trump맥스카지노s readiness to draw closer to Russia and after weeks of U.S. efforts to broker a ceasefire in Ukraine failed to bring an end to the fighting. There is also frustration among Europeans over the Trump administration맥스카지노s other moves, from tariffs on some of its closest partners to rhetoric about NATO and Greenland.
Video below: Trump on Russia-Ukraine war: 'I'm not happy with all the bombing that's going on'
The American view in Paris
Rubio wrote on X that the American delegation in Paris was looking to 맥스카지노secure real, practical solutions to end the Russia-Ukraine war."
Rubio also spoke by phone Thursday with his Russian counterpart, Sergey Lavrov, conveying the same message he gave the delegations in Paris, U.S. State Department spokeswoman Tammy Bruce said in a statement.
맥스카지노President Trump and the United States want this war to end, and have now presented to all parties the outlines of a durable and lasting peace,맥스카지노 the statement says. 맥스카지노The encouraging reception in Paris to the U.S. framework shows that peace is possible if all parties commit to reaching an agreement.맥스카지노
Until now, Trump맥스카지노s officials have pursued separate negotiating tracks between the United States and Ukraine, and between the U.S. and Russia.
Senior U.S. officials had previously made comments suggesting European representatives would not be involved in ceasefire negotiations. Experts said the talks are thought to be the first time Witkoff 맥스카지노 Trump's chief envoy tasked with negotiating with Russian President Vladimir Putin 맥스카지노 has met senior Ukrainian officials.
Alina Polyakova, president of the Center for European Policy Analysis in Washington, called this "really, really important. And I think that is emerging because I think the U.S. process has stalled and ... they realized that you need European input because they have skin in the game.''
맥스카지노This is not just about a swath of territory in Ukraine,맥스카지노 she said. "This is about broader questions of European security and you can맥스카지노t disentangle those.맥스카지노
Ukraine's goals
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he wanted his representatives to raise the question of security guarantees for Ukraine, and said he gave his team a mandate to discuss a full and partial ceasefire 맥스카지노 but not matters relating to the territorial integrity of Ukraine.
A senior French official said after Thursday맥스카지노s talks that U.S. officials were 맥스카지노맥스카지노ready to discuss security guarantees,맥스카지노 without elaborating. The official spoke anonymously as he was not authorized to be publicly named, according to presidential policy.
Ukraine's presidential adviser, Andrii Yermak, said the Ukrainian delegation and European partners discussed the next steps toward achieving a 맥스카지노just and lasting peace,맥스카지노 including a full ceasefire, the deployment of a multinational military contingent, and the development of an effective security architecture for Ukraine.
맥스카지노It was a very substantive conversation. We continue our work,맥스카지노 he wrote.
Trump맥스카지노s special envoy to Ukraine and Russia, retired Lt. Gen. Keith Kellogg, also joined the talks. Other participants included Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha and Defense Minister Rustem Umerov, British Foreign Secretary David Lammy, the German government맥스카지노s foreign policy adviser and German Foreign Ministry맥스카지노s political director.