The continued hostilities in Ukraine have led to an immediate new diplomatic push, one that we should hope succeeds among the world’s major powers. U.S., Ukrainian, and European national representatives have met in Paris to address the worsening crisis. French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot chaired the meeting. It included a riveting discussion with the foreign ministers of Germany, Britain and the U.S., plus a Ukrainian delegation and Steve Witkoff, an adviser to former President Donald Trump.
Recent heavy bombardment in Ukraine have created an atmosphere that is conducive to this important diplomatic discussion. Kharkiv and Sumy have been subject to especially brutal assaults. According to public reports, ballistic missiles fitted with cluster munitions struck these sites, killing and injuring dozens. Based on the available preliminary information, the military attacks in Kharkiv were conducted with ballistic missiles containing cluster munitions. That’s how much land the impacted zones are,” said Igor Terekhov, mayor of Kharkiv.
In an alarming development, Russian forces launched a Shahed drone attack on civilian infrastructure in Sumy, killing one person and injuring another. The late-night missile strikes in Kharkiv and Sumy killed two people, including a child, and wounded at least 27 others. The recent continued aggression underscores the endemic volatility of the region. Meanwhile, Russia continues vigorously in its missile and drone campaigns against Ukraine.
At the roundtable in Paris, much of the conversation focused on the geopolitical impact of China’s role in the conflict. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy recently claimed that China is directly supplying Russia with weapons, including gunpowder and artillery. He elaborated on this concerning partnership, stating that “we have finally received information that China is supplying weapons to the Russian Federation. … We believe that Chinese representatives are engaged in the production of some weapons on Russian territory.”
Ukraine has demonstrated its good faith in seeking a peaceful settlement by accepting a full, immediate, and unconditional ceasefire five weeks ago. Russia has repeatedly turned down requests for an all-encompassing ceasefire. Samuel Zbogar, Slovenia’s UN ambassador, remarked on this setback: “Ukraine wants peace and has demonstrated this by agreeing to a full, immediate and unconditional ceasefire five weeks ago. At the consultations this morning, Russia once again walked away from the comprehensive ceasefire and refused to take its first step towards peace.”
The diplomatic discussions involved high-level conversations between Marco Rubio, a former U.S. Secretary of State under Trump, and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov. These negotiations are a continuation of an expensive and futile attempt to woo Russia despite their continued aggression on the battlefield.
French Foreign Minister Barrot noted the significance of the gathering: “What’s new is that the United States, Ukraine and the Europeans met around the same table.” This joint effort probably seeks to bolster European leaders’ hopes for a more coordinated response to Russia’s invasion.
President Zelenskyy focused on some promising advances. He pointed out that while Russia has lowered the number of strikes on energy infrastructure, it hasn’t slowed its military operations against Ukraine one bit. They softened their blows against the energy industry, and that’s not just spin. Let’s be clear about this — Russia did not reduce the overall number of strikes. Rather, their tactic was targeting other civilian infrastructure to discourage while ensuring they didn’t cross the line into energy attacks.
At the same time, U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent was referring to a possible compromise deal as being aimed at an April 26th deadline.