Zelensky's top aide, foreign minister in Paris to meet US, EU officials

Representative Image (AI) KYIV: Top Ukrainian officials were in Paris on Thursday to meet EU and US delegations, Volodymyr Zelensky's chief of staff said, with US secretary of state Marco Rubio and presidential envoy Steve Witkoff also expected in the French capital. "I have just landed in Paris. We arrived together with Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiga and Defence Minister Rustem Umerov," Andriy Yermak wrote on social media, adding they planned to meet representatives of France, Germany, Britain and the United States, without specifying who.

The parties will discuss a potential full ceasefire, the involvement of international peacekeepers, and the development of Ukraine's security framework, according to a statement from Ukraine's foreign ministry. The meeting comes after a spate of deadly Russian air strikes on Ukrainian cities that has triggered outrage in Kyiv and Europe. French President Emmanuel Macron will meet Rubio and Witkoff in Paris on Thursday, as he takes a lead in seeking to forge a coordinated European response to protecting Ukraine.



US President Donald Trump's push for a ceasefire in Ukraine has yet to bear fruit despite his pledges to end the three-year war quickly. Witkoff said Russian President Vladimir Putin was open to "permanent peace", after talks with the Kremlin chief in Saint Petersburg last Friday, their third meeting since Trump took office. Witkoff said during a Fox News interview televised Monday that he sees a peace deal "emerging".

Putin last month rejected a US proposal for a full and unconditional ceasefire, after Kyiv gave its backing to the idea..