France hails ‘positive process’ as Europe, US discuss Ukraine ceasefire

PARIS: France on Thursday hailed talks on the Ukraine war between top US and European officials during which US Secretary of State Marco Rubio reaffirmed a US peace plan.

President Emmanuel Macron’s office said the talks launched a “positive process” as Europe seeks to be included in efforts to end the three-year-old war.

The meetings in the French capital included Macron, Rubio, US envoy Steve Witkoff, British Foreign Secretary David Lammy, German officials and Ukrainian ministers.

They took place as President Donald Trump’s push to end the war stumbles, with Russia’s President Vladimir Putin rebuffing a complete truce.

“Today in Paris, we launched a positive process in which the Europeans are involved,” the French presidency said.

A new meeting of envoys from the United States, France, Britain, Germany and Ukraine will take place next week in London, it added.

Rubio called Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov to discuss the Paris meeting, Moscow and Washington said.

“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,” the US State Department said Rubio told his Russian counterpart.

“The encouraging reception in Paris to the US framework shows that peace is possible if all parties commit to reaching an agreement,” he added.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky also praised the talks.

“It is important that we hear each other, refine and clarify our positions, and work for the sake of real security of Ukraine and all our Europe,” Zelensky said in a post on X.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov however dismissed the Paris meeting, saying earlier that Europeans seemed to have “a focus on continuing the war.”

France and Britain have taken a leading role seeking 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 Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot told reporters: “The novelty is that today in Paris, the United States, Ukraine, and the Europeans gathered around the same table.”

“For a long time there was concern that the Europeans would not be at the table,” he said.

Barrot expressed hope that the London meeting next week would help achieve a full and unconditional ceasefire “in the very near future.”

Russia’s strikes, which have recently killed dozens of people including children in Ukrainian cities, have increased pressure for new diplomatic efforts to end the conflict.

Zelensky earlier accused Witkoff of “spreading Russian narratives” after the US envoy suggested a peace deal with Russia hinged on the status of Ukraine’s occupied territories.

“I believe that Mr.Witkoff has taken on the strategy of the Russian side,” Zelensky told reporters.

“I think it is very dangerous, because he is consciously or unconsciously, I don’t know, spreading Russian narratives.”

Witkoff said this week that Putin was open to “permanent peace” after talks with the Kremlin chief in Saint Petersburg, their third meeting since Trump returned to the White House in January.

Despite the diplomatic efforts, Russia has continued to strike Ukraine.

Russian drone strikes and shelling in Ukraine killed at least 12 people on Thursday, Ukrainian authorities said, just days after a Russian attack killed at least 35 people in the northeastern city of Sumy.

Zelensky said Wednesday that negotiators were making “good progress” with the United States in fraught talks over a minerals deal intended to secure desperately needed US support. Trump said a deal could be signed next week.

Putin last month rejected a US proposal for a full and unconditional ceasefire, after Kyiv gave its backing to the idea.

He also suggested Zelensky be removed from office, sparking an angry response from Trump who said he was “very angry” with the Russian leader.

France’s Defense Minister Sebastien Lecornu held talks in Washington on Thursday with US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, who called on France to boost military spending, a Pentagon spokesman said.

“The secretary urged France to increase defense spending and, alongside other NATO allies, take primary responsibility for Europe’s conventional defense,” the spokesman said.