France said talks on Thursday between top US and European officials on the war in Ukraine had launched a “positive process,” as Europe seeks to be included in efforts to end the three-year-old conflict.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio again pressed a US peace plan during the discussions in Paris.
The meetings included French President Emmanuel Macron, Rubio, US envoy Steve Witkoff, British Secretary for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs David Lammy, German officials and Ukrainian ministers.
Photo: AFP
They took place as US President Donald Trump’s push to end the war stumbles, with Russian President Vladimir Putin rebuffing a complete truce.
“Today in Paris, we launched a positive process in which the Europeans are involved,” Macron said.
A new meeting of envoys from the US, France, the UK, Germany and Ukraine is to take place next week in London.
Rubio later called Russian Minister of Foreign Affairs Sergei Lavrov to discuss the Paris meeting.
“President 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,” Rubio told his Russian counterpart, according to the US State Department.
“The encouraging reception in Paris to the US framework shows that peace is possible if all parties commit to reaching an agreement,” he added.
In a statement, the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs said Lavrov “reaffirmed Moscow’s readiness to continue collaborative efforts with American counterparts to comprehensively address the root causes of the Ukrainian crisis.”
Lavrov and Rubio agreed on the need to maintain “prompt communication channels,” in light of the London meeting next week, the statement said.
Europeans at the table
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, who has clashed with Trump, praised the talks, saying it was important to work towards “real security” in Europe.
Posting on Telegram, Zelenskiy’s chief of staff Andriy Yermak yesterday thanked Macron “for your efforts in the process of achieving a just and lasting peace for Ukraine.”
However, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov dismissed the Paris meeting, saying that Europeans seemed to have “a focus on continuing the war.”
France and the UK have sought a coordinated European response to defending Ukraine, during the conflict and in any ceasefire, after Trump shocked them by opening talks with Russia.
Macron said the Paris talks were “a very important occasion for convergence,” as everybody wanted “a robust and sustainable peace.”
French Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs Jean-Noel Barrot told reporters the talks had made a breakthrough, because the US, Ukraine and European ministers had “gathered around the same table” when Europe had previously feared it would be excluded from decisionmaking.
The US “has understood that a just and sustainable peace ... can only be achieved with the consent and contribution of Europeans,” he later added.
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