U.S. and G7 diplomats split focus between Paris and Abu Dhabi talks
Western leaders met in France while American envoys opened trilateral negotiations with Russian and Ukrainian officials in the United Arab Emirates.
By Nikolai Patterson ·
Hundreds of thousands of soldiers and thousands of civilians have died in the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, a toll that analysts and humanitarian organizations say has persisted for nearly five years. The death toll remains the central metric for a war that continues despite diplomatic efforts to end it.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio arrived in Paris on Tuesday to meet with European counterparts. He held bilateral talks with Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha before joining a larger session at the French foreign ministry. The State Department released a brief statement noting that the two men discussed negotiations to end the war, energy resilience, and defense cooperation. Neither official spoke to reporters as they posed for photographs prior to their meeting.
The timing of the Paris meetings coincided with the start of trilateral talks in Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates. Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, two senior envoys for President Donald Trump, began discussions with Russian and Ukrainian officials there. Their primary goal is to persuade Moscow to accept a broader negotiation format that includes key European officials.
European leaders have pressed for a seat at the Abu Dhabi table. Germany’s Foreign Minister Johan Wadephul met separately with Rubio in Paris on Monday. Wadephul stated that he remains grateful to the United States for its efforts to bring the warring parties together. He emphasized that Europe must be included in the process. “There can be no solution without Europe, only with Europe,” Wadephul said.
Two U.S. officials told reporters on Monday that representatives from Britain, Germany, France, NATO, and the European Union would not join the main trilateral talks. Instead, these groups would hold preliminary discussions on security guarantees and the long-term security architecture between Russia and Europe. Russia has resisted European participation in the past, insisting on a strictly trilateral format involving only Russia, Ukraine, and the United States. The previous round of such talks took place in February.
Rubio addressed the issue after a full day of meetings with Group of Seven counterparts. He said the United States has no objection to eventual European involvement in direct talks, but he argued that the moment is not yet ripe. “Ultimately, it would be a positive, but we’ve got a ways to go,” Rubio told reporters. He added that it is good that the trilateral talks are happening again, noting that it is better than having no talks at all.
The diplomatic meetings in Paris and Abu Dhabi occurred against a backdrop of continued military action. On Monday, Russian forces attacked Ukraine’s power grid. In response, Ukrainian forces struck one of Russia’s largest oil refineries. The G7 meeting in Paris was expected to address the reduction in defense and security assistance provided by the Trump administration, a move that has caused concern in Kyiv and across major European capitals.
It was not immediately clear if the United States or any of its G7 partners would announce new financial or military aid for Ukraine during the Paris session. The administration’s shift in support levels has been a point of friction between Washington and its European allies, including France, Germany, Italy, and the United Kingdom.
