US officials reportedly told high-ranking political representatives of Western European supporters of Kiev in Paris that they can expect a ceasefire within the next few weeks. According to Bloomberg, US Special Envoy Steve Witkoff and US Senator Marco Rubio presented the timeline leading up to the ceasefire during a meeting in Paris organized by French President Emmanuel Macron. The news portal cited unnamed sources for the report.
The Europeans reportedly tried to convince the US diplomats that Donald Trump must toughen his stance towards Moscow. The US representatives referred to this as the latest attempt by the Europeans to influence the talks.
US officials have already met with Russian President Vladimir Putin in St. Petersburg last week. Steve Witkoff described the meeting with Putin as productive. However, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky accused Witkoff of regurgitating Russian narratives.
Russian diplomats, however, see significant obstacles on the path to a ceasefire. One of these obstacles is that the Western European supporters of the Kiev regime are hindering the US peace efforts.
On Thursday, Russian Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Vasily Nebenzya, argued that Kiev has not fulfilled its commitments from the ceasefire agreement mediated by the US, which involved a commitment to refrain from attacking the enemy’s energy infrastructure. Nebenzya also accused Western European countries of using peace talks in the past to arm Ukraine. Given this background, it is unrealistic to push for an immediate complete ceasefire.
“I cannot speak for President Trump” said Nebenzya. “Maybe he knows better.”
The 30-day ceasefire agreement on attacks on the enemy’s energy infrastructure ended on March 18 and expired this week. When asked if Russia would change its military strategy, the spokesman for the President, Dmitry Peskov, replied that Putin has not issued any new directives.