The French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot said in Paris on April 17 that the EU works seriously for the Ceasefire talks among European, Ukrainian, and U.S. officials for the first time signal Europe’s role at the negotiating table.
Since the start of the war ,The U.S. aimed to avoid the role of the EU to the Ukraine peace talks, raising alarm among European officials and pushing Europe to work its way back to the negotiating table. A Paris meeting was held on April 17 to discuss security guarantees for Ukraine.
Barrot noted that officials from all three sides have agreed to regroup in London next week to continue discussions regarding security guarantees for Ukraine and a ceasefire.
The french FM pointed to Russia hasn’t agree to a full ceasefire, though the Ukrainians accepted it.
Barrot added that the EU hope in near future to achieve a real success and complete, unconditional ceasefire, to which the Ukrainians have already agreed and to which we hope Russia will agree in turn,” Barrot said.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Special Envoy Steve Witkoff were in Paris for the high-level meetings on ending the war in Ukraine.
The U.S. officials were joined by Presidential Office head Andriy Yermak, Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha, and Defense Minister Rustem Umerov.
“For a long time, we feared that the Europeans would not be around the table. Well, today, it is in Paris that the Europeans, the Americans, and the Ukrainians have met for the first time,” Barrot said.
The U.S. has led separate talks with Ukraine and Russia in Saudi Arabia to reach a ceasefire. On April 6, Zelensky said Russia is rejecting an unconditional ceasefire because it wants to continue launching missile strikes from the Black Sea.
