WASHINGTON — Donald Trump's special envoy Steve Witkoff and top diplomat Marco Rubio will hold talks with European counterparts in Paris to discuss efforts to end the war in Ukraine.

The talks, which UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy will also attend, form the highest level of transatlantic engagement about the war since February.

In recent months, the US government has not exactly rushed to consult its European allies.

Thursday's meetings are significant for their happening, if nothing else. Witkoff and Rubio will see French President Emmanuel Macron and his team.

The US Secretary of State will then hold talks with Lammy along with French and German counterparts. European national security advisers will be involved as well.

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

European diplomats said they would urge the US to put more pressure on Russia to agree an unconditional ceasefire.

"We want the US to use a bit more stick," one official said. — BBC