Europe and America, in disagreement on Ukraine, try to talk to each other

With diplomacy on the war in Ukraine, in various directions, President Emmanuel Macron in France held on Thursday the best American officials who were designed to preserve at least the appearance of a united front.

During a working lunch with Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Steve Witkoff, President Trump’s envoy, Macron discussed “peace negotiations aimed at putting an end to the Russian assault in Ukraine,” said a statement from the French presidency.

This wording seems little likely to please the Trump administration, which adopted a different vision of the conflict. He said Ukraine was responsible for the invasion of Russia, reprimanded President Volodymyr Zelensky, of Ukraine, for his ungrateful and aligned with people like North Korea to reject a United Nations resolution to condemn Russia for its assault.

However, welcoming Mr. Rubio and Mr. Witkoff, Mr. Macron said in English that “this is a very important opportunity for convergence”.

The change of Trump on Russia and other measures have led to an increase in tensions between Europe and the United States on what is widely considered as a lively ideological change in Mr. Trump’s America, far from the support of Western democracies and to a sympathetic vision of authoritarian regimes. However, despite the pursuit of a distinct line of diplomacy, at least until today, the Trump administration seems to want to help Europe to end the fighting in Ukraine.

A subsequent French presidential declaration said that Reunion “illustrated regular dialogue between France and the United States on the main international issues in order to guarantee stability and preserve multilateral cooperation”. He offered rare details on Ukraine.