Ukraine-Russia war latest: Rubio and Witkoff meet European leaders in Paris for last ceasefire push before Easter
Donald Trump’s secretary of state Marco Rubio and Moscow-friendly envoy Steve Witkoff are travelling to Paris for talks aimed at ending Russia’s war in Ukraine – as the US president’s Easter deadline for a truce rapidly approaches.
With Mr Trump having expressed frustration with both Kyiv and Moscow over the slow progress in peace talks, and lashing out at Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelensky with false claims that he “started” Vladimir Putin’s invasion, European officials are expected to plead Kyiv’s case in the talks on Thursday.
Ramping up pressure on Washington, which billed the talks as being solely with French officials, a previously unannounced delegation from Kyiv said it was also travelling to Paris on Thursday and would meet with officials from the US, Britain, France and Germany to discuss a ceasefire, peacekeeping force and other security measures.
Hours before the delegations arrived, Ukrainian officials said a child was among three people killed and 31 injured as Russia’s forces launched a devastating drone attack on the city of Dnipro.
The dead also include an elderly woman, while 16 people were taken to hospital for treatment including a nine-month-old baby, according to Ukrainian officials.
