US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and White House special envoy Steve Witkoff will meet French President Emmanuel Macron in Paris on Tuesday. Their visit is part of efforts by Washington and European leaders to coordinate their actions on the conflict in Ukraine and rising tensions with Iran, Reuters reports, BTA reports.
US officials are expected to listen to European concerns about Russia as the US seeks to reach a ceasefire agreement between Kiev and Moscow — three years after the war began.
President Donald Trump's frustration with both sides in the conflict is growing, as he expressed frustration with the lack of progress and warned that he was prepared to take military action against Iranian nuclear sites.
Unease in Europe has grown further after Trump's diplomatic gestures to Russian President Vladimir Putin and pressure on Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky. Meanwhile, on Sunday, the US president said:
“I'm just trying to stop this so we can save a lot of lives.“
Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski reacted to the situation by saying on Monday that he hoped the Trump administration would realize that Putin was “making a mockery of their goodwill”, especially after Russia launched a deadly missile strike on the Ukrainian city of Sumy.
In addition to meeting with Macron, Rubio will also speak with French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot. Topics include the war in Ukraine, the possibility of a new nuclear deal with Iran, and the situation in the Middle East.
On Saturday, Steve Witkoff will travel to Rome for a second round of talks with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi. The two already had a 45-minute discussion in Oman last week. Both sides described the meeting as positive but stressed that a possible agreement is still a long way off.
On Monday, Trump issued a new warning, saying he would order the bombing of Iranian nuclear sites if a deal was not reached.