French President Emmanuel Macron says he will meet Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz in London on Monday to "take stock" of ongoing US-led negotiations, in a bid to end the four-year war with Russia.
Macron made the announcement on Saturday, on social media platform X, as Ukrainian and US officials were holding a third straight day of talks in Miami to discuss a plan to end the war.
"I will travel to London on Monday to meet with the Ukrainian President, the British Prime Minister, and the German Chancellor, in order to take stock of the situation and the ongoing negotiations within the framework of the US mediation," Macron wrote, slamming what he called Russia's "escalatory path".
"We will continue these efforts with the Americans to provide Ukraine with security guarantees, without which no robust and lasting peace will be possible," he added.
Exert pressure
Macron also condemned a wave of Russian strikes after Moscow launched over 700 drones and missiles overnight into Saturday at Ukraine, targeting its energy and railway facilities and triggering heating and water cuts affecting thousands of households and businesses.
"We must continue to exert pressure on Russia to compel it to choose peace," Macron said.
US special envoy Steve Witkoff and Donald Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner met Russian President Vladimir Putin at the Kremlin on Tuesday to discuss the latest peace proposal, though Moscow rejected parts of it.
Zelensky joined his negotiators by telephone on Saturday for what he described as a "very substantive and constructive" call, as part of the third day of meetings in Florida.
Europe demands more work on US peace plan to end Russia-Ukraine war
"Ukraine is committed to continuing to work honestly with the American side to bring about real peace," Zelensky said on Telegram, adding that the parties agreed "on the next steps and the format of the talks with America."
A readout of the Miami talks posted Friday by Witkoff on X said that "Both parties agreed that real progress toward any agreement depends on Russia's readiness to show serious commitment to long-term peace, including steps toward de-escalation and cessation of killings."
Security guarantees
Washington's initial plan to bring an end to the conflict involved Ukraine surrendering land that Russia has not been able to win on the battlefield in return for security promises that fall short of Kyiv's aspirations to join NATO.
But the nature of the security guarantees that Ukraine could get have so far been shrouded in uncertainty, beyond an initial plan saying that jets to defend Kyiv could be based in Poland.
The US plan has been through several drafts since it first emerged last month, amid criticism it was too soft on Russia, which invaded Ukraine in February 2022.
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Trump has blown hot and cold on Ukraine since returning to office in January, initially embracing Putin and chastising Zelensky for not being grateful for US support.
But he has also grown frustrated that his efforts to persuade Putin to end the war, including a summit in Alaska, have failed to produce results and he recently slapped sanctions on Russian oil firms.
Putin, who was in India this week meeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi, said the talks were "complex" but that he wanted to engage with Trump's plan "rather than obstruct it."
OSCE to monitor ceasefire?
In a separate developement, Switzerland's foreign minister said that the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) could play a major role in monitoring a ceasefire in Ukraine.
Switzerland will chair the OSCE in 2026 and Foreign Minister Ignazio Cassis said Bern wants to focus on confidence-building measures, and preparing for a possible truce between Moscow and Kyiv.
"There are already concrete considerations on this: the organisation is capable of deploying several dozen people at short notice. The OSCE could observe the ceasefire, monitor the ceasefire line, monitor elections, and so on," Cassis told SonntagsBlick newspaper on Sunday.
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"But the front line currently stretches for 1,300 kilometres – the OSCE alone is too small to monitor its entire length. This would require a significant commitment from the participating states."
He said that as a first step, a fact-finding mission would need to deploy to Ukraine and return with a diagnosis of the situation, from which the OSCE could quickly initiate the next steps.
Founded in 1975 to ease tensions between the East and the West during the Cold War, the OSCE counts 57 members from Europe, central Asia and North America, including the United States, Ukraine and Russia.
(with AFP)
