G7 focuses on Ukraine as US-led peace talks begin in Abu Dhabi

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha is scheduled to meet US Secretary of State Marco Rubio in Paris before joining a broader meeting with his G7 counterparts at the French foreign ministry.

The discussions will focus on defence and security assistance for Ukraine, which has been scaled back by US President Donald Trump's administration, raising concerns in Kyiv and European capitals, including Paris, Berlin, Rome and London.

It remained unclear whether Washington or any other G7 member would announce additional assistance for Ukraine.

At the same time, Trump's envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner are meeting Russian and Ukrainian officials in Abu Dhabi. One of the key objectives is to persuade Moscow to agree to broader negotiations involving major European representatives to find a way to end nearly five years of war.

European countries have been pressing to participate in the Abu Dhabi talks. However, two US officials said on Monday that representatives from Britain, Germany, France, NATO and the European Union would not take part in the main discussions. Instead, they would hold separate talks beforehand on possible security guarantees and the future security framework between Russia and Europe.

Moscow has opposed European participation in the negotiations, insisting that discussions should remain limited to Russia, Ukraine and the United States. The three countries last held talks in February.

German Foreign Minister Johan Wadephul, who met Rubio separately on the sidelines of the G7 meeting in Paris on Monday, stressed that Europe must have a place in the negotiations.

“I am still very grateful to the United States of America for making every effort to get the parties to the conflict to the table,” he said. “But I made clear again here that Europe belongs at this table. There can be no solution without Europe, only with Europe.”

Rubio said Washington did not oppose European involvement in direct negotiations at a later stage, but added that the time was not yet right.

“Ultimately, it would be a positive, but we've got a ways to go,” he told reporters after a day of group and bilateral meetings with G7 counterparts. “But, no, it's good that they're talking, it's good that the trilateral talks are on again. It's better than not having talks.”

Ahead of the Abu Dhabi meetings, Russia launched another assault on Ukraine's power grid on Monday, while Ukrainian forces struck another of Russia's largest oil refineries.

The two sides remain locked in fighting, with neither showing signs of backing away from their demands. Analysts and humanitarian organisations estimate that the war has killed hundreds of thousands of soldiers and thousands of civilians, reports UNB.