Donald Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff and top diplomat Marco Rubio will hold talks with European counterparts in Paris later on Thursday to discuss efforts to end the war in Ukraine.
The talks, which UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy will also attend, form the highest level of transatlantic engagement about the war since February.
European diplomats have said they will urge the US to put more pressure on Russia to agree an unconditional ceasefire.
“We want the US to use a bit more stick,” one official said.
Witkoff and Rubio will see French President Emmanuel Macron and his team, before the US Secretary of State holds talks with Lammy and his French and German counterparts. European national security advisers will be involved as well.
The US State Department said the focus would be on how to end the fighting in Ukraine and Witkoff would report on his meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin last week.
The issue of a peace deal has become more critical for Europeans following Russia’s recent missile strikes that killed dozens of people in two Ukrainian cities.
In May 2023, Donald Trump said he would be able to settle the war between Russia and Ukraine “in 24 hours”.
His administration has taken action to drastically improve relations with Moscow, while seeking to broker a ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine.
However, it has also held negotiations with Moscow that have cut out Kyiv. Meanwhile, tensions between Trump and Zelensky have been high since a heated confrontation at the White House in February, where the US leader chided Ukraine’s president for not starting peace talks with Russia earlier.
