Easter is just round the corner, but in a last push before the break there is a lot of high-stake diplomacy planned for today.
US state secretary Marco Rubio and White House envoy Steve Witkoff are in Paris this morning for meetings with European partners on Ukraine, Middle East, and other foreign and trade policy issues.
The pair is expected to meet the French president, Emmanuel Macron, but also three EU foreign ministers: Britain’s David Lammy, France’s Jean-Noël Barrot, Germany’s Annalena Baerbock.
A Ukrainian delegation is also in town, led by top Zelenskyy’s aide Andriy Yermak and accompanied by foreign minister Andriy Sybiga and defence minister Rustem Umerov.
French defence minister Sébastien Lecornu is also stateside, with a planned meeting with US defence secretary Pete Hegseth.
It is not clear what, if anything, of what they discuss will be made public – but you can be sure that you will find all the updates we can get for you here.
It’s Thursday, 17 April 2025, it’s Jakub Krupa here, and this is Europe Live.
Some countries try to 'derail' Russia's relations with US, top negotiator claims
Meanwhile, Russia’s top economic negotiator claimed that some countries were trying to “derail” Moscow’s talks with the United States, as the two sides work towards normalising ties.
“There are a lot of people, structures, countries trying to disrupt our dialogue with the United States. There is a very active propaganda against Russia going on in the United States in various mass media,” Kirill Dmitriev, who is also the head of Russia’s sovereign wealth fund, told reporters, AFP said.
The head of Russia's sovereign wealth fund Kirill Dmitriev speaks to media ahead of his meeting with US delegation in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia in February. Photograph: Hamad I Mohammed/Reuters
French president Macron meets with Rubio, Witkoff at Élysée
French president Emmanuel Macron has just formally welcomed Rubio and Witkoff, accompanied by France’s foreign minister Jean-Noël Barrot.
Their meeting is about to get under way, and the French presidency said that Macron spoke with Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy just before meeting the US delegation.
France's president Emmanuel Macron (L) shakes hands with US secretary of state Marco Rubio (R) and US Special Envoy Steve Witkoff before a meeting at the Élysée Palace palace in Paris. Photograph: Ludovic Marin/AFP/Getty Images
Paris talks with allies focused on 'paths to fair and lasting peace', Ukraine's foreign minister says
Ukrainian foreign minister Andrii Sybiha has just posted on update on his separate talks with British, French and German partners at the Élysée earlier today.
He said they “discussed the paths to a fair and lasting peace, including full ceasefire, multinational contingent, and security guarantees for Ukraine.”
French President diplomatic adviser Emmanuel Bonne poses with Ukraine's president chief of staff Andriy Yermak, Ukrainian foreign minister Andrii Sybiha, Ukrainian defence minister Rustem Umerov, UK national security adviser Jonathan Powell, and Germany national security adviser Jens Plotner, on the door steps of the Elysee presidential palace, following their meeting in Paris. Photograph: Ludovic Marin/Reuters
First meetings of the day are now under way, with White House envoy Steve Witkoff meeting with French president Emmanuel Macron’s diplomatic adviser Emmanuel Bonne at the Élysée.
French president’s diplomatic adviser Emmanuel Bonne (3R) meets with US Special Envoy Steve Witkoff (2L) at the Élysée Palace presidential palace in Paris. Photograph: Ludovic Marin/EPA
Russia blames Europe for continuing war in Ukraine
And we have just heard from Moscow, with the Kremlin welcoming today’s meeting in Paris as a chance for Witkoff to update Europeans on his long conversation with Russian president Vladimir Putin last week.
“The United States is continuing to work in this direction with the Europeans and with the Ukrainians,” Peskov said.
“Unfortunately, from the Europeans we see a focus on continuing the war,” he said, as reported by Reuters.
'We must put pressure on killers,' Zelenskyy urges partners
Setting the scene for today’s meetings in Paris, Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy urged partners to “put pressure on the killers” after another Russian attacks on Dnipro, Odesa, Sumy, Kharkiv and Donetsk overnight, which left three people dead, and 28 injured.
In this photo, provided by the Ukrainian Emergency Service, firefighters extinguish fire following a Russian attack in Dnipro. Photograph: AP
In a post on Telegram, he said that every defence package for Ukraine is “literally protecting lives,” as “Russia uses every day and every night to kill.”
“We must put pressure on the killers and help life in order to end this war and guarantee a reliable peace,” he said.
“I want to thank all the partners who are using their capabilities in this way. Wars are stopped by force – [the use of] force against the aggressor … in defence of life,” he said.
'Drug-dealing scum' most likely behind French prison attacks, French minister says
Drug-traffickers were most likely behind an unprecedented wave of attacks against French prisons though foreign influence and the far-left remain possible instigators, French interior minister Bruno Retailleau said.
“It’s most likely drug-dealing scum. It is one of the most credible scenarios,” Retailleau told RTL radio, Reuters reported.
A police officer from the scientific and technical police walks past one of the vehicles set on fire in the parking lot of the Tarascon prison near Avignon, France. Photograph: Manon Cruz/Reuters
The news agency reported that at least nine prison facilities and affiliated institutions have been targeted with nightly arson and other attacks this week and a car was set alight at the home of a prison guard.
Former UK minister says he is 'disgusted' by Trump's 'weasel language' on Russia
Martin Pengelly
Pronouncing himself “disgusted” by Donald Trump’s favorable attitude to Russia and Vladimir Putin, the former UK defence minister Grant Shapps said the US president calling a Russian missile strike that killed dozens in Ukraine last weekend a “mistake” was an example of “weasel language we used to hear … from the IRA” terrorist group.
Grant Shapps at Silverstone in Towcester, Northamptonshire, on 11 June 2024. Photograph: James Manning/PA
“All anybody needs Putin to do is get the hell out of a democratic neighboring country,” Shapps told the One Decision podcast, regarding attempts to end the war in Ukraine that has raged since Russia invaded in February 2022.
“And I just have to [put] this on record: it disgusts me, I feel disgusted [by] the idea that the leader of the free world cannot tell the difference between the dictator who locks up and murders his opponents and invades innocent democratic countries and the country itself that has been invaded.
“This lack of moral clarity is completely demoralizing for the rest of the democratic world.”
Easter is just round the corner, but in a last push before the break there is a lot of high-stake diplomacy planned for today.
US state secretary Marco Rubio and White House envoy Steve Witkoff are in Paris this morning for meetings with European partners on Ukraine, Middle East, and other foreign and trade policy issues.
The pair is expected to meet the French president, Emmanuel Macron, but also three EU foreign ministers: Britain’s David Lammy, France’s Jean-Noël Barrot, Germany’s Annalena Baerbock.
A Ukrainian delegation is also in town, led by top Zelenskyy’s aide Andriy Yermak and accompanied by foreign minister Andriy Sybiga and defence minister Rustem Umerov.
French defence minister Sébastien Lecornu is also stateside, with a planned meeting with US defence secretary Pete Hegseth.
It is not clear what, if anything, of what they discuss will be made public – but you can be sure that you will find all the updates we can get for you here.
It’s Thursday, 17 April 2025, it’s Jakub Krupa here, and this is Europe Live.
