The French President, Emmanuel Macron, has successfully met in Paris, France with top diplomats from the United States (US), Europe, and Ukraine, on April 17, 2025, which was reportedly aimed at reviving stalled ceasefire efforts.
The high-profile diplomatic meeting was described by a French official as an “excellent day of talks in Paris".
After the meeting, the Élysée Palace announced that "Senior US, European and Ukrainian diplomats will meet again" in London next week.
“We have started a positive process in which Europeans are a part,” the spokesperson said after the meetings attended by top French, German, British and Ukrainian officials as well as the US secretary of State, Marco Rubio, and Donald Trump’s special envoy, Steve Witkoff.
The French official said: “The Americans are ready to discuss security guarantees, but the exact content of those guarantees will depend on negotiations allowing Ukraine to achieve a solid and durable peace starting with a complete ceasefire as soon as possible.”
France’s president, Macron, hosted the talks as Washington and Europe seek common ground on how to end the fighting three years after Russia invaded its neighbour, Ukraine, with Trump’s pledge to swiftly end the war so far unfulfilled.
“Everyone wants to get peace. A robust and sustainable peace. The question is about phasing,” Macron said as the talks got under way.
Keith Kellogg, Trump’s envoy to Ukraine, who also attended, said afterwards the talks were “very productive” but gave no details.
A previously unannounced team of Ukrainian officials including Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s Chief of Staff, Andriy Yermak, and the country’s Foreign and Defence ministers flew in to meet the US and European delegations.
Yermak said: “We exchanged views on the next steps…, including the implementation of a full ceasefire, the involvement of a multinational military contingent, and development of an effective security architecture for Ukraine.”
In Kyiv, Zelenskyy was critical of Witkoff’s message, saying he believed the US envoy had “taken on the strategy of the Russian side”. He added: “I think it is very dangerous, because he is – consciously or unconsciously, I don’t know – spreading Russian narratives.”
Earlier on Thursday, the Ukrainian President, Zelenskyy, said pressure must be put on Moscow to call a halt to the fighting. “Russia uses every day and night to kill,” he said. “We must put pressure on the killers, to end this war and guarantee a lasting peace.”
The Élysée spokesperson said the object of the meetings was “to allow Ukraine to better understand the US proposals”, adding that the fact that Rubio, Witkoff and Kellogg attended “shows they recognize the important role of the Europeans”.
Macron spoke to Zelenskyy by phone before the talks, the French president’s office said. He later greeted Witkoff and Rubio before a joint lunch. Before that, his foreign policy adviser, Emmanuel Bonne, and his British and German counterparts met Yermak.
Trump has indicated frustration with both Moscow and Kyiv, but European leaders’ concern has mounted as the US president heaps pressure and criticism on Zelenskyy while repeatedly making diplomatic overtures to Putin.
FN Blog
