France's President Emmanuel Macron was fairly pleased after the meeting, as European countries once again sat at the negotiating table regarding the situation in Ukraine. Macron emphasized the importance of consensus and said that significant ideas had been exchanged between delegations from Ukraine, the USA, and several European countries.
Today in Paris, we have initiated a positive process where Europeans are involved, said Macron after the meeting at the Élysée Palace.
Called Lavrov
Immediately after the meeting, the Russian Foreign Ministry announced that US Secretary of State Marco Rubio had informed his counterpart in Moscow, Sergey Lavrov, about the content of the conversation.
"The US Secretary of State, who was in Paris, informed (Lavrov) about the contacts he and the US special envoy Steve Witkoff had with representatives from Ukraine, France, and several European countries", said the Russian Foreign Ministry in a statement.
The US State Department was forced to respond to the Russian move. In a statement, it was said that Secretary of State Rubio had called the Russian top diplomat Lavrov to say that the talks had been "encouraging".
The diplomatic contacts followed the talks where Ukraine was represented by Foreign Minister Andrij Sybiha, Defense Minister Rustem Umjerov, and Volodymyr Zelensky's chief of staff Andrij Jermak. Representatives from Germany and the UK were also present.
Putting Pressure on Russia
Zelensky, who was not in France, emphasized the importance of putting pressure on Russia in a post on social media before the meeting.
"Russia is using every day and every night to kill. We must put pressure on the murderers... to end the war and guarantee a long-lasting peace", writes the Ukrainian President on Telegram.
