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 바카라 게임 웹사이트convergence." France announced that talks in the same format would continue in London next week.
The meetings came as concerns grow about Trump바카라 게임 웹사이트s 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 administration바카라 게임 웹사이트s 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 바카라 게임 웹사이트secure 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.
바카라 게임 웹사이트President 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,바카라 게임 웹사이트 the statement says. 바카라 게임 웹사이트The encouraging reception in Paris to the U.S. framework shows that peace is possible if all parties commit to reaching an agreement.바카라 게임 웹사이트
Until now, Trump바카라 게임 웹사이트s 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 바카라 게임 웹사이트 Trump's chief envoy tasked with negotiating with Russian President Vladimir Putin 바카라 게임 웹사이트 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.''
바카라 게임 웹사이트This is not just about a swath of territory in Ukraine,바카라 게임 웹사이트 she said. "This is about broader questions of European security and you can바카라 게임 웹사이트t disentangle those.바카라 게임 웹사이트
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 바카라 게임 웹사이트 but not matters relating to the territorial integrity of Ukraine.
A senior French official said after Thursday바카라 게임 웹사이트s talks that U.S. officials were 바카라 게임 웹사이트바카라 게임 웹사이트ready to discuss security guarantees,바카라 게임 웹사이트 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 바카라 게임 웹사이트just and lasting peace,바카라 게임 웹사이트 including a full ceasefire, the deployment of a multinational military contingent, and the development of an effective security architecture for Ukraine.
바카라 게임 웹사이트It was a very substantive conversation. We continue our work,바카라 게임 웹사이트 he wrote.
Trump바카라 게임 웹사이트s 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 government바카라 게임 웹사이트s foreign policy adviser and German Foreign Ministry바카라 게임 웹사이트s political director.