The next round of negotiations on ending the war in Ukraine will be held in London next week, French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot has said. He said this in Paris after a meeting of representatives of the United States, France, Britain, Germany and Ukraine on 17 April, Radio Liberty reports.
“These very open, very sincere discussions have helped to advance the thinking of the Europeans, Ukrainians and Americans, who have agreed to meet again next week in London to continue the dialogue on this basis – so that we can hope to reach a ceasefire already soon, to which the Ukrainians have already agreed and to which we hope Russia will also agree,” Barrot said.
The French minister expressed the view that the talks that have taken place and the next meeting are evidence that Europe has been given a seat at the negotiating table.
“For a long time there were fears that Europeans would not participate in the negotiations – but today it was in Paris that Europeans, Americans and Ukrainians came together for the first time,” he stressed.
Earlier, the United States special representative for Ukraine, Keith Kellogg, said that he had met with Ukrainian Defence Minister Rustem Umerov and the head of the presidential office, Andriy Yermak, in Paris.
Before that, Umerov reported about the first meeting in Paris – with representatives of the countries of the “coalition of the willing”. According to him, the sides “coordinated positions on the realisation of a complete ceasefire, the involvement of a multinational military contingent and the creation of an effective security architecture for our country”.
United States Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced his arrival in Paris on the evening of 17 April, along with Special Representatives Steve Whitkoff and Keith Kellogg. According to Rubio, his visit has only one purpose: to provide “real, practical” solutions to end the Russia-Ukraine war.
Officially, Moscow says it seeks peace, but on its own terms, which include not only Ukraine’s relinquishment of occupied Crimea and four regions that Moscow claims it illegally annexed without fully controlling, but also a refusal to join NATO and likely other concessions.
Trump has said several times recently that Russia needs to move from words to deeds and show its desire for peace. At the same time, the US president said that the responsibility for the war lies not only with Russian President Vladimir Putin, who unleashed it, but also with Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky and Trump’s predecessor as US president, Joe Biden, who, according to Trump, did nothing to avoid it.