Europeans, Ukrainians to make their case as Rubio and Witkoff visit Paris

PARIS - Top Ukrainian officials flew on April 17 for a previously unannounced visit to Paris, where Europeans were assembling to plead Kyiv’s case to US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and President Donald Trump’s envoy Steve Witkoff.

The high-level diplomacy reflects Europe’s mounting concern over the US administration’s overtures towards Moscow, after the

failure so far of Mr Trump’s efforts to arrange a ceasefire

in the three-year-old Russia-Ukraine war. The US officials were also due to discuss nuclear talks with Iran during their visit to Paris.

Mr Trump, who has long said he aims to swiftly end the Ukraine war, has indicated he is frustrated with both Moscow and Kyiv, even as his administration has shifted US rhetoric towards accommodating the Russian account of the conflict.

Ukraine agreed to Mr Trump’s proposal in March for a ceasefire, which Russia rejected. The sides have agreed only to

curbs on attacks against energy targets and at sea

, which both accuse each other of violating.

Kyiv and its European allies say Moscow is to blame for rejecting Mr Trump’s proposal of a ceasefire in March, and are hoping to persuade Washington to take a tougher line. They have pressed the case since a Russian attack that killed civilians, including Ukrainian Christian worshippers, in the city of Sumy on April 13.

“I’m just trying to get it stopped so that we can save a lot of lives,” Mr Trump said of the war on April 13.

The arrival of a Ukrainian delegation in Paris was not previously announced ahead of what Washington had described as planned talks between Mr Rubio, Mr Witkoff and French officials.

President Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s chief of staff Andriy Yermak said his delegation, which also included Ukraine’s foreign minister and defence minister, would meet a US delegation as well as French, British and German officials, without specifying whether they would meet either Mr Rubio or Mr Witkoff.

“We are working on important issues for the security of Ukraine and the whole of Europe,” Mr Yermak said on X.

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said: “The parties will discuss ways to achieve a complete ceasefire, the involvement of a multinational military contingent to guarantee sustainable peace, further development of Ukraine’s security architecture and ensuring the security of our country.”

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s foreign policy adviser Jens Ploetner will also be in Paris for the meetings.

Iran talks

In addition to discussing the war in Ukraine, US and French officials said they would also discuss Washington’s efforts to reach a nuclear deal with Iran.

Mr Witkoff plans to fly on to Rome for a second round of discussions on April 19 with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi about Iran’s nuclear programme. They met for 45 minutes on April 12 in Oman.

Both sides described that weekend’s talks as positive while acknowledging that any potential deal remains distant.

Mr Trump, who abandoned an earlier nuclear deal with Iran during his first term in 2018, said on April 14 that he was willing to bomb Iran’s nuclear facilities if a new deal was not reached.

The United States had not told European countries about the nuclear talks in Oman before Mr Trump announced them. REUTERS