US urges critical Ukraine-Europe talks amid diplomatic strains, ceasefire collapse

A senior U.S. official stressed the critical importance of upcoming Ukraine-Europe talks, where representatives are set to respond to a "terms sheet" proposed by U.S. Senators Marco Rubio, Steven Witkoff, and Keith Kellogg in Paris.

The official revealed that Rubio spoke with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov last week, though little progress emerged from the conversation, Caliber.Az reports per foreign media.

They further stressed that no discussions would take place “for meetings' sake” unless there were clear indications of tangible progress.

These comments followed an announcement by President Vladimir Putin, who declared a temporary Easter ceasefire over the weekend, citing humanitarian reasons. In his address on Monday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy insisted that the “primary task” of the talks in London was to “push for an unconditional ceasefire,” calling this the “starting point” for peace negotiations.

However, substantial obstacles remain to achieving a lasting peace settlement, given Putin's long-standing demands, which include Ukraine ceding all territory occupied by Russia and adopting permanent neutrality. Ukraine has previously rejected these terms, viewing them as tantamount to surrender and a threat to its future security.

In a more optimistic tone, former U.S. President Donald Trump expressed hopes on Sunday that both sides would “hopefully” reach an agreement “this week.”

Despite the diplomatic efforts, both sides broke the temporary truce shortly after it was declared, with Russia launching new strikes against Ukraine, prompting Ukrainian forces to retaliate.

By Aghakazim Guliyev