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Europe is back at the heart of talks to end the war between Russia and Ukraine. French President Emmanuel Macron set up a meeting in Paris between American, European and Ukrainian delegations - the first of its kind since President Trump took office. This marks a change from American efforts to attempt to broker alone separate peace deals with Russia and Ukraine. NPR's Eleanor Beardsley reports.
ELEANOR BEARDSLEY, BYLINE: The U.S. sent its top players to Paris. Secretary of State Rubio, Special Envoy Steve Witkoff and Ukraine Envoy retired Lieutenant General Keith Kellogg sat down with top diplomats from France, Britain, Germany and Ukraine.
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UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: (Speaking French).
BEARDSLEY: News channels covered the all-day talks. Many European leaders have been quietly critical of the Trump administration's go-it-alone approach. The impression in Paris and other capitals is that Russian President Vladimir Putin is playing for time - talking peace while he presses his advantage on the battlefield and continues to bomb Ukrainian cities and kill civilians. One of the targets of criticism is Witkoff, who is often seen by diplomats here as showing a lack of knowledge about the region and seen as out of his depth with Russian diplomats and putting possible business deals ahead of seeking peace. This is Witkoff on Fox News recently after a five-hour meeting with Putin in Moscow.
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STEVE WITKOFF: There's a possibility to reshape the Russian-United States relationship through some very compelling commercial opportunities that I think give real stability to the region, too.
BEARDSLEY: That skepticism about Trump's envoy is shared by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who spoke at a news conference in Kyiv today.
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PRESIDENT VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY: (Through interpreter) I believe Mr. Witkoff has adopted Russia's strategy. I think it's very dangerous because he's consciously or unconsciously - I don't know - spreading Russian narratives. In any case, this does not help.
BEARDSLEY: Ukraine expert Nicolas Tenzer says the impression in Europe is Trump is ready to make concessions to Russia about Ukraine's occupied territories before direct peace talks even start.
NICOLAS TENZER: I think that the negotiations with Russia is a kind of fool's game basically because we know that peace talks, since there is absolutely no appetite from Putin for peace basically are doomed to fail.
BEARDSLEY: But diplomats and leaders in Europe are committed to working on a possible peace deal that could involve sending European troops on the ground into Ukraine. There'll be a second summit next week in London, involving a dozen European nations as well as representatives from NATO. Eleanor Beardsley, NPR News, Paris.
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