The Japan Times - Ukraine's Zelensky in Paris seeking support as Trump pushes plan

Zelensky held talks with Macron at the Elysee, with Ukraine weighing its options over the plan championed by US President Donald Trump but which European countries fear risks caving in to Russian demands.

The situation has been further complicated by a corruption scandal that has rocked Zelensky's inner circle and forced the removal last week of his top negotiator and chief of staff Andriy Yermak.

Over three-and-a-half years into Russia's full-scale invasion of its neighbour, Kyiv is also under pressure on the battlefield as Russia's offensive grinds forward.

US and Ukrainian negotiators held hours of what both sides called "productive" talks in Florida on Sunday, with Trump declaring on Air Force One "there's a good chance we can make a deal".

"The work for peace continues," Macron wrote in a brief post on X after welcoming Zelensky for talks which were due wrap up with a press conference at around 1500 GMT.

"There are some tough issues that still have to be worked through," Zelensky wrote on social media earlier Monday, following new telephone talks with Finland President Alexander Stubb, who has warm relations with both the American and Ukrainian leaders.

Zelensky described the talks in the United States as "very constructive", adding that decisions would be taken on Ukraine's "further activities" once the delegation returning from there had been debriefed.

"It could be a pivotal week for diplomacy. We heard yesterday that the talks in America were difficult but productive," EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas added at a meeting of EU defence ministers.

- 'Extremely difficult situation' -

Washington put forward an initial 28-point proposal to halt the war, drafted without input from Ukraine's European allies and regarded as too close a reflection of Moscow's maximalist demands on Ukrainian territory.

It would have seen Kyiv withdraw from its eastern Donetsk region and the United States de facto recognise the Donetsk, Crimea and Lugansk regions as Russian.

After talks in Geneva just over a week ago, the United States updated the original blueprint following criticism from Kyiv and Europe, but the current contents remain unclear.

In an article for Britain's Telegraph newspaper published at the weekend, Ukraine's former armed forces chief Valery Zaluzhny offered a downbeat assessment of Ukraine's predicament, saying that "we are in an extremely difficult situation, where a rushed peace will only lead to a devastating defeat and loss of independence".

Zaluzhny, now ambassador to London and seen by some as a domestic rival of Zelensky, said that without security guarantees including Ukrainian membership of NATO, the "war will probably continue" with Russia's goal "the abolition of Ukraine as an independent state."

Trump's envoy Steve Witkoff is due in Moscow for follow-up talks and is expected to discuss Ukraine with Putin on Tuesday.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio told reporters the Florida talks were "very productive" but there was "more work to be done".

"There are a lot of moving parts, and obviously there's another party involved here that will have to be a part of the equation, and that will continue later this week when Mr Witkoff travels to Moscow," he said.

The diplomatic push comes as the war -- which has killed tens of thousands of civilians and military personnel and displaced millions of Ukrainians -- shows no sign of easing.

A Russian missile attack killed four people and wounded nearly two dozen others on Monday in the central Ukrainian city of Dnipro, the governor of the region said.

Local officials released images of the aftermath showing emergency services responding at the scene, cars destroyed and buildings with their windows blown out.

Zelensky is due Tuesday to make his first official trip to Ireland, which is not a NATO member but takes over the rotating EU presidency in the second half of 2026.

burs-sjw/ah/st

Y.Kato--JT