British News Agency

According to the BBC, British Foreign Secretary David Lammy will also attend the meetings, marking the highest-level transatlantic engagement on the war since February.

The US government has not been quick to consult its European allies in recent months.

Thursday’s meetings are significant, if for no other reason than the fact that they are happening. Witkoff and Rubio will meet with French President Emmanuel Macron and his team.

The US Secretary of State will then meet with Lammy and his French and German counterparts. European national security advisers will also participate.

The US State Department said the focus will be on how to end the conflict in Ukraine, and that Witkoff will report on his meeting last week with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

European diplomats said they will call on the US to apply more pressure on Russia to accept an unconditional ceasefire.

“We want the US to use a bit more stick,” said one European diplomat.