Paris: French President Emmanuel Macron welcomed Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to Paris on Monday, and called ongoing talks “a moment that could be a turning point” for the future of peace in Ukraine and security in Europe.
The discussions are part of a flurry of diplomatic activity aimed at brokering the terms for a potential ceasefire in the nearly four-year-old war in Ukraine.
Zelenskyy’s visit to Paris followed a meeting between Ukrainian and US officials in Florida on Sunday, which Secretary of State Marco Rubio described as productive.
The two sides have worked to make revisions to a proposed US-authored plan that was developed in negotiations between Washington and Moscow but criticised as being too weighted toward Russian demands.
Those criticisms were perhaps most vehement from Ukraine’s European allies who, while welcoming US peace efforts, pushed back on key tenets of the plan.
“Ukraine is the only one that can discuss about its territories” as a sovereign nation, Macron said
during a joint news conference with Zelenskyy.
Macron also denounced Russia’s continued onslaught against Ukraine:
“At a time when we are talking about peace, Russia continues to kill and destroy,” Macron said.
Ahead of his meeting with Zelenskyy on Monday, Macron’s office said the two leaders would discuss conditions for a “fair and lasting peace.”
Later, Macron’s office said he and Zelenskyy held talks with other European partners including leaders from Britain, Germany, Poland, Italy, Norway, Finland, Denmark and the Netherlands.
Also included in the talks were European Union officials Antonio Costa and Ursula von der Leyen and NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte. Macron and Zelenskyy also had phone calls with US special envoy Steve Witkoff, Macron’s office said.