Ukraine’s Zelensky in Paris seeking support as Trump pushes plan

PARIS: President Volodymyr Zelensky on Monday sought to reinforce European support for Ukraine at a potentially pivotal moment in Kyiv’s battle against the Russian invasion, meeting President Emmanuel Macron in Paris as Washington pushed a plan to end the war.

Zelensky was holding talks with Macron at the Elysee, with Ukraine weighing its options over the plan championed by US President Donald Trump but which European countries fear risks caving in to Russian demands.

The situation has been further complicated by a corruption scandal that has rocked Zelensky’s inner circle and forced the removal last week of his top negotiator and chief of staff Andriy Yermak.

Over three-and-a-half years into Russia’s full-scale invasion of its neighbour, Kyiv is also under pressure on the battlefield as Russia’s offensive grinds forward.

US and Ukrainian negotiators held hours of what both sides called “productive” talks in Florida on Sunday, with Trump declaring on Air Force One “there’s a good chance we can make a deal”.

Trump blasts Ukraine for ‘zero gratitude’ to US as talks start

“There are some tough issues that still have to be worked through,” Zelensky wrote on social media, following new talks by telephone Monday with Finland President Alexander Stubb, who has warm relations with both the American and Ukrainian leaders.

Zelensky described the talks in the United States as “very constructive”, adding that decisions would be taken on Ukraine’s “further activities” once the delegation returning from there had been debriefed.

“It could be a pivotal week for diplomacy. We heard yesterday that the talks in America were difficult but productive,” EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas added at a meeting of EU defence ministers.

‘More work to be done’

Washington put forward an initial 28-point proposal to halt the war, drafted without input from Ukraine’s European allies and regarded as too close a reflection of Moscow’s maximalist demands on Ukrainian territory.

It would have seen Kyiv withdraw from its eastern Donetsk region and the United States de facto recognise the Donetsk, Crimea and Lugansk regions as Russian.

After talks in Geneva just over a week ago, the United States updated the original blueprint following criticism from Kyiv and Europe, but the current contents remain unclear.

Trump’s envoy Steve Witkoff is due in Moscow for follow-up talks and is expected to discuss Ukraine with Putin on Tuesday.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio told reporters the Florida talks were “very productive” but “there’s more work to be done”.

“There are a lot of moving parts, and obviously there’s another party involved here that will have to be a part of the equation, and that will continue later this week when Mr Witkoff travels to Moscow,” he said.

Trump also referred to political turbulence in Kyiv which saw Zelensky last week remove Yermak after a corruption scandal in the energy sector that has troubled Western allies.

“Ukraine’s got some difficult little problems,” Trump said.

The diplomatic push comes as the war – which has killed tens of thousands of civilians and military personnel and displaced millions of Ukrainians – shows no sign of easing.

Russia’s forces targeted Ukraine’s capital and the region with deadly air strikes two nights in a row over the weekend.

A Ukrainian security source, meanwhile, said Kyiv was responsible for attacks on two oil tankers in the Black Sea that it believed were covertly transporting sanctioned Russian oil.

One of Russia’s largest oil terminals halted operations on Saturday following a drone attack.

The Caspian Pipeline Consortium (CPC), a group that includes US oil majors Chevron and ExxonMobil and which owns the terminal, called the strike a “terrorist attack”.

Ukraine, which did not comment on the incident, regularly targets Russian energy facilities in a bid to sap the country’s war chest.