Europe’s top diplomats press Rubio on Ukraine peace talks at G7 conference
By Google News Category Diplomacy ·
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio at the G7 foreign ministers' summit at the Quai d'Orsay in Paris. Photo / Brendan Smialowski, AFP
European foreign ministers have pressed United States Secretary of State Marco Rubio at a G7 meeting in Paris to ensure any settlement in the war with Russia is fair to Ukraine, before US-mediated talks on ending the conflict.
European capitals have insisted that they must be represented at the table in the negotiations at Abu Dhabi, and some have also expressed wariness about intensifying American talk of a new security architecture for Europe.
The meeting of ministers from the leading industrialised nations of Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the US provides Europe and its allies with a chance to air concerns with their US counterpart.
Russia’s war against Ukraine following the February 2022 full-scale invasion is grinding towards its fifth anniversary.
And Washington is still not ruling out new attacks against Iran even after the defeat of US President Donald Trump’s Republicans in last week’s Midterm elections.
The meeting coincides with US-mediated talks with Moscow and Kyiv in Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates, scheduled for tomorrow and Thursday NZT, on ending the Ukraine war.
German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul said it was neither “necessary nor right, nor appropriate to make a fundamental change” to Europe’s existing security architecture.
He added: “Europe belongs at this table. There can be no solution without Europe – only with Europe.”
French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot said on Monday that Europeans would be represented at the Abu Dhabi talks, with France also participating.
Trump stoked fears of a US pivot towards the Kremlin by predicting a “very big” deal with Russia involving not only Ukraine but “all of Europe”.
But before leaving for Paris, Rubio said the post-war security infrastructure of Europe is “one of the key topics that’s been raised repeatedly in every conversation any time negotiations have been discussed”.
He said: “We obviously have to get past the conflict to get to that point”.
Trump’s son-in-law and envoy Jared Kushner said Russia and Europe must hold direct talks on “broader security arrangements” as part of any Ukraine peace deal, adding: “We recognise the difficult decisions ahead”.
Speaking in Bucharest, European Union chief Ursula von der Leyen said Russia must halt fighting in Ukraine before “meaningful” talks could be held on broader security arrangements in Europe.
Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiga will be joining the talks in Paris for a session on Ukraine on Wednesday.
Before leaving for Paris, he said: “No one has the right to decide our fate behind our backs”.
Wadephul said the Abu Dhabi talks must show whether Russia was “genuinely prepared to negotiate”, urging Moscow to “give up maximalist demands” and warning against any “negotiation show”.
He warned that against a background of continued Russian attacks on Ukrainian civilian infrastructure “we see no substantial contribution whatsoever toward negotiations gaining any serious momentum” on Moscow’s part.
But in an interview with AFP, Canada’s Foreign Minister Anita Anand hailed the “importance” of US-mediated talks, saying it was “positive” that both sides were willing to discuss a settlement to end the war.
On Iran, Trump has not ruled out new strikes, including at so-called Pickaxe Mountain, a suspected nuclear site that Tehran denies…
Originally published by Google News Category Diplomacy
