Kremlin says Trump envoy Witkoff to inform Europeans on Ukraine

MOSCOW (Reuters) - The Kremlin on Thursday said that a meeting between the U.S., Ukraine and European countries in Paris was a chance for U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff to inform them of the current status of talks about the search for a peace settlement in Ukraine.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that President Vladimir Putin and Witkoff had a long conversation last week.

"The United States is continuing to work in this direction with the Europeans and with the Ukrainians," Peskov said.

"Unfortunately, from the Europeans we see a focus on continuing the war," he said.

Top Ukrainian officials flew on Thursday for a previously unannounced visit to Paris, where Europeans were assembling to plead Kyiv's case to U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and President Donald Trump's envoy, Witkoff.

The high level diplomacy reflects Europe's mounting concern over the U.S. administration's overtures towards Moscow, after the failure so far of Trump's efforts to arrange a ceasefire in the three-year-old Russia-Ukraine war.

Putin held the latest of several meetings with Witkoff in the Russian president's hometown of St. Petersburg last Friday. Russian state media said the talks lasted for more than four hours.

Trump has repeatedly said he wants to end the "bloodbath", but has yet to achieve a breakthrough. Moscow has said it is not easy to agree a settlement.

(Reporting by Anastasia Lyrchikova; Writing by Felix Light; editing by Guy Faulconbridge)

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