French President Emmanuel Macron on Monday held talks with Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Paris, as the US pushes a plan aimed at ending the war between Kyiv and Moscow.
Mr Macron, a close ally of Mr Zelenskyy, sought to reinforce European support for Kyiv at a "moment that could be decisive regarding peace in Ukraine and security in Europe", he said.
Speaking a day before US President Donald Trump's special envoy Steve Witkoff is due in Moscow after talks with a Ukrainian delegation in Florida, Mr Macron said there can be no finalised peace plan without Ukraine and Europe.
"There is currently no finalised plan regarding territorial issues. It can only be finalised by President Zelenskyy," he said alongside the Ukrainian leader, who was also in Paris two weeks ago to sign a significant weapons deal, including Rafale jets.
"On the issues of frozen assets, security guarantees, accession to the European Union and European sanctions, [this plan] can only be finalised with the Europeans at the table. Therefore, we are still in a preliminary phase."
Mr Macron later debriefed Mr Trump by phone, his office said. He "emphasised the crucial importance of the security guarantees necessary for Ukraine and his and our commitment to working with the United States on this".
Europe is Ukraine's largest donor, at $187 billion since 2022. It views Russia as an existential threat, but the continent has been largely sidelined in US-mediated negotiations.
On November 23, European negotiators went uninvited to US-Ukraine talks in Geneva. That move allowed them to substantially modify an initial 28-point plan for Ukraine put forward by the Trump administration. However they were not invited to further talks that started on Sunday in Florida.
Peace plan
"Although it sometimes seems that everyone is working on their own side, in America and Europe, all are working in the same way," Mr Zelenskyy said. "It's our common interest to live without war."
From Paris, the two leaders also made calls to UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer before being joined by leaders from Denmark, Poland, Italy, Norway, Finland, Denmark and the Netherlands. They also spoke to Mr Witkoff and Ukraine's Defence Minister Rustem Umerov, who led the Ukrainian delegation in Miami.
Mr Zelenskyy said the "plan is improving" and that talks were continuing. "This is an ongoing process, and frankly, I'll tell you the territorial issue is the most difficult," he said.
Mr Trump's 28-point peace plan demanded that Ukraine cede control to Russia of parts of eastern Ukraine that Russia does not currently control.
Speaking in Brussels at a meeting of EU defence ministers, the EU foreign affairs chief Kaja Kallas echoed Mr Macron's assessment that this week could be "pivotal for diplomacy". She also appeared critical of Europe's absence in the latest round of talks in the US.
"Ukrainians [were] there alone," she said. "If they would be together with the Europeans, they would definitely be much stronger but I trust that Ukrainians stand up for themselves."
The Netherlands announced it would contribute €250 million ($290 million) to a Nato initiative to buy weapons and ammunition for Ukraine from the US. "On a daily basis, we see heavy air attacks in Ukraine," Dutch Defence Minister Ruben Brekelmans said.
"We see also the devastating impact on energy, but also on the daily life of Ukrainians. The only way to help them at short notice is by delivering out of American stock – so air defence, missiles, F16 ammunition."
US fallback
Privately, European diplomats say they struggle to read the US position, which appears to swing between pro-Ukrainian and pro-Russian positions depending on which country US officials spoke to last.
Last week, the US Secretary of State Marco Rubio's for the first time attended the so-called coalition of the willing – 35 states that have pledged to support Ukraine – in what was viewed in Europe as a signal from the US that it would provide postwar Ukraine with security guarantees, despite Mr Trump previously appearing reluctant to do so.
European leaders want US guarantees as a fallback for Ukraine in case other options under consideration, including boosting the Ukrainian army and sending an international peacekeeping force to the region, fail to deter Russia from invading its neighbour again.
But Europeans have also been alarmed by Mr Rubio's plans to skip a meeting of Nato foreign ministers in Brussels on Wednesday. His absence from such a major transatlantic gathering would be highly unusual.
Another issue of concern for Europe has been the resignation of Mr Zelenskyy's senior negotiator, Andriy Yermak, amid a corruption scandal. European officials have said this must not be allowed to affect peace talks after Mr Trump described the corruption case as "not helpful". Mr Macron said it was not his role to "give lessons to Ukraine".
The diplomatic focus on Ukraine has also increased pressure on European leaders to find a solution to Belgium's opposition to using frozen Russian assets to issue a $161 billion reparation loan to Ukraine at the next EU leaders meeting on December 18.
Belgium fears possible Russian reprisals in international courts. A "technical solution" is possible, Mr Macron said, without giving further details.
