Cnn
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US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Steve Witkoff, President Donald Trump’s international envoy, should meet Ukrainian officials in Paris at a summit Thursday aimed at strengthening Ukraine’s defenses against Russia’s relentless invasion.
If Trump’s commitment to end the war in one day was eccentric, the hope of guaranteeing a full Easter truce – this weekend – also seems to fail. Russia has increased its strikes on Ukraine in recent weeks, despite the Washington openings in Moscow.
These openings have so far widely sidelined the European powers and kyiv, which means that the summit on Thursday will be the highest level of meeting of Ukrainian and American officials in a few weeks.
The Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine and the Minister of Defense arrived in the French capital for the last summit of the “coalition of wishes”, a group of Western nations committing to defend Ukraine against Russia in the face of the drop and uncertain American military support.
Andriy Yermak, an assistant superior to President Volodymyr Zelensky, said that ministers “work on critical questions for the security of Ukraine and all of Europe”.
For the European allies of Ukraine, the summit offers a chance to assess the Trump administration’s thought on the war in Ukraine. Kyiv and his allies were alarmed by the Trump parrot and Witkoff of Kremlin discussion points, and can consider talks as a chance to disturb and dislodge these perceptions.
After Meeting Russian President Vladimir Putin for a Third Time Last Week, Witkoff Told Fox News that Peace Deal in Ukraine Will Center on the “So-Called Five Territories,” Refronting to Crimea, the Ukrainian Peninsula Russia Annexed in 2014, and the Four Mainland Ukrainian has occupied since its full-scale invasion in 2022, having previously suggested ukraine may have to cede their under a truce.
Oleksandr Merezhko, a member of the Ukrainian parliament, told CNN on Tuesday that Witkoff “with all the respect I owe … could inadvertently try to push pro-Russian stories.”
Early Thursday afternoon, Witkoff and Rubio were welcomed at the Elysee presidential palace by French President Emmanuel Macron, who was one of the leaders of European efforts to provide kyiv with security guarantees that the United States will not do.
Despite its ambitious commitments, the Trump administration had trouble negotiating a lasting peace agreement between countries at war and was accused of mainly using sticks in its treatment of Ukraine while saving its carrots for Russia.
After the White House briefly reduced arms supplies and the sharing of information with Ukraine in March, Kyiv quickly accepted the American proposal for a 30-day ceasefire.
After separate talks with Russian and Ukrainian officials later this month, the White House declared that the two had accepted the ceasefire on energy infrastructure and in the Black Sea-only for the Kremlin to announce that it would only implement the agreement when the sanctions imposed on its banks and the exports will be lifted.
The Center for Counter Disinformation, a Ukrainian reflection group, stressed that the supposed truce did not do much to limit the aggression of Russia. During the 22 days following the truce, the Russian army killed almost 2.5 times more Ukrainians than during the same period before its announcement, the center said on Tuesday.
In a sign of increasing irritation with Moscow, Trump said last week that “Russia must move”, but did not provide deadlines or ultimatum if it was not the case.
While the Paris Summit was underway, Kirill Dmitriev, a high-level Russian negotiator, said that many countries are trying to “disturb” Russia’s dialogue with the United States. He said that Putin’s last meeting with Witkoff was “extremely productive”, but that the dialogue took place under “very difficult conditions – constant attacks, constant disinformation”.
