Europe and America, at Odds Over Ukraine, Try Talking to Each Other

With diplomacy on the war in Ukraine splintering in various directions, President Emmanuel Macron of France held meetings Thursday with top American officials that were designed to preserve at least the appearance of a united front.

At a working lunch with Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Steve Witkoff, President Trump’s envoy, Mr. Macron discussed “peace negotiations aimed at ending the Russian aggression in Ukraine,” a statement from the French presidency said.

That wording appeared unlikely to please the Trump administration, which has taken a different view of the conflict. It has claimed that Ukraine was responsible for Russia’s invasion, berated President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine for being ungrateful, and aligned with the likes of North Korea in rejecting a United Nations resolution condemning Russia for its aggression.

This shift and other measures have led to rising tensions between Europe and the United States over what is widely seen as a sharp ideological shift in Mr. Trump’s America, away from support of Western democracies and toward a sympathetic view of authoritarian regimes. Yet, despite pursuing a separate line of diplomacy, at least until today, the Trump administration seems to want some help from Europe in ending the fighting in Ukraine.

A later French presidential statement said the meeting “illustrated the regular dialogue between France and the United States on major international issues in order to secure stability and preserve multilateral cooperation.” It offered scant details on Ukraine.

Mr. Macron and Mr. Trump speak to each other regularly by phone, often in an impromptu way, officials close to the president, who customarily request anonymity in line with their jobs, said. The two leaders developed a cooperative, if sometimes uneasy, relationship during Mr. Trump’s first term in office.