G7 in Paris: Europe asks for a seat in the Ukraine talks – what Rubio said about security guarantees ahead of Abu Dhabi

G7 foreign ministers meet in Paris on Monday, November 9, and Tuesday, November 10, in a meeting where Europeans want to ensure they are not left on the sidelines of the talks to end the war in Ukraine. The session coincides with the Russia-Ukraine talks under US mediation in Abu Dhabi, which begin on Tuesday. The meeting was moved at short notice from Marseille to Paris for security reasons, after weeks of mobilisations in France.

France, which holds the G7 presidency for 2026, has set as its first priority support for Ukraine in capabilities, financing and energy, together with stabilisation in the Middle East, Sudan, Venezuela, Cuba and Haiti. Also on the table are humanitarian aid and food security, while in Marseille the G7+ network of ports against drug trafficking meets in parallel for the first time. Paris has invited Brazil, South Korea, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Ukraine as partners, and the same day organises, with the EBRD and the Ukrainian government, a conference on financing the restoration of the Chernobyl protective shelter.

Rubio: security guarantees are the central issue

Before leaving for France, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio told reporters at Homestead Air Reserve Base in Florida that security guarantees for Ukraine will be among the main subjects of the Abu Dhabi talks. As he explained, every discussion of the war returns to the question of what the post-war security system of Ukraine, and of the whole European continent, will be. The proposals under consideration are, in his words, preliminary and “nothing has been finally agreed,” with hope for progress when Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff arrive in Abu Dhabi.

Mr Rubio will stay in Paris for both days of the meeting, unlike the previous G7 ministerial, where he stayed only one. It is his first appearance before allies since the US midterm elections, and in the afternoon he will meet President Emmanuel Macron. Europeans fear Washington may press Kyiv toward a settlement that favours Moscow, especially after Donald Trump said Ukraine will emerge from the deal with a “slightly different setup”.

French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot has already confirmed that France will be in Abu Dhabi. Added to the Paris agenda, at the proposal of Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani, accepted by Mr Barrot, is a discussion of cyberattacks attributed to pro-Russian hackers, after the publication of Mr Tajani’s own personal data. Ministers will also discuss Iran, with European governments calling for a diplomatic solution rather than new American strikes.