PARIS (AP) — France hosted a series of talks Thursday about Ukraine and its security, including U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and presidential envoy Steve Witkoff and top Ukrainian and European officials.
After hours of separate meetings at the French presidential palace with U.S., Ukrainian and European officials, French President Emmanuel Macron brought them all together for a final round of talks at the end of the day. The outcome of the negotiations wasn’t immediately clear.
The meetings come as concerns grow about U.S. President Donald Trump’s readiness to draw closer to Russia, and after weeks of U.S. efforts to broker a ceasefire in Ukraine. There is also frustration over the Trump administration’s other moves, from tariffs on some of its closest partners to rhetoric about NATO and Greenland.
Ukrainian presidential adviser Andrii Yermak said the Ukrainian delegation discussed with European partners next steps toward achieving a “just and lasting peace,” including a full ceasefire, the deployment of a multinational military contingent, and the development of an effective security architecture for Ukraine.
“It was a very substantive conversation. We continue our work,” he wrote.
Rubio and Witkoff met Macron and held “talks with European counterparts to advance President Trump’s goal to end the Russia-Ukraine war and stop the bloodshed,” State Department spokeswoman Tammy Bruce said.
Trump’s 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 government’s foreign policy adviser and German Foreign Ministry’s political director.
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From left to right, Germany national security advisor Jens Plotner, Ukraine’s Defence Minister Rustem Umerov, French President diplomatic advisor Emmanuel Bonne, Ukraine’s President chief of staff Andriy Yermak, Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiga, and Britain’s National Security Adviser Jonathan Powell pose as they arrive for a meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron at the Elysee Palace in Paris, Thursday, April 17, 2025. (Ludovic Marin, Pool Photo via AP)
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From left to right, Germany national security advisor Jens Plotner, Ukraine’s Defence Minister Rustem Umerov, French President diplomatic advisor Emmanuel Bonne, Ukraine’s President chief of staff Andriy Yermak, Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiga, and Britain’s National Security Adviser Jonathan Powell pose as they arrive for a meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron at the Elysee Palace in Paris, Thursday, April 17, 2025. (Ludovic Marin, Pool Photo via AP)
The meeting in Paris is a “unique moment″ because it is the first time Trump’s representatives, Ukrainians and Europeans are discussing Ukraine around the same table, said Alina Polyakova, president of the Center for European Policy Analysis in Washington.
’’That’s 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,″ she said. ’’This is not just about a swath of territory in Ukraine. This is about broader questions of European security and you can’t disentangle those.″
Around 30 countries led by Britain and France have been discussing a possible coalition to police any future peace agreement with Russia. The success of the coalition’s operation hinges on U.S. backup with airpower or other military assistance, but the Trump administration has made no public commitment to provide support.
In Ukraine, a massive drone attack hit the city of Dnipro on Wednesday night, killing three people including a child, the regional leader said. Ukrainian government officials and military analysts have said that Russian forces are preparing to launch a fresh military offensive in the coming weeks to maximize pressure on Kyiv and strengthen the Kremlin’s negotiating position in ceasefire talks.
Rubio and Witkoff have helped lead U.S. efforts to seek peace more than three years after Russia launched the war. Several rounds of negotiations have been held in Saudi Arabia, and Witkoff met last week with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Moscow has effectively refused to accept a comprehensive ceasefire that Trump has pushed and Ukraine has endorsed. Russia has made it conditional on a halt in Ukraine’s mobilization efforts and Western arms supplies, which are demands rejected by Ukraine.
Moscow and Kyiv agreed last month to implement a 30-day halt on strikes on energy facilities, but Russia has kept up daily strikes. Both parties have differed on the start time for stopping strikes and alleged daily breaches by the other side.
At Thursday’s talks in Paris, Macron also plans to discuss the impact of Trump’s tariff policies and the conflicts in the Mideast, ″in a logic of de-escalation in the region,″ the French president’s office said.
Follow AP’s coverage of the war in Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine
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