France hosted high-level talks on Thursday to discuss Ukraine and its security, the first time. This is the first time since President Donald Trump took over the White House that top American, Ukrainian and European officials have met to discuss an end to the Russia-Ukraine war.

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US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and presidential envoy Steve Witkoff joined other top Ukrainian and European officials at the French presidential palace - the l'Élysée Palace. A video from the meeting is doing rounds on the internet, in which Witkoff can be heard comparing the lavish l'Élysée Palace to Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago residence in Florida. A section of people on social media has called out Witkoff's remark and said that L’Élysée Palace was built in 1718-22 and so it is older than Trump's residence.

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In the video, Witkoff can be heard saying, "I was trying to say this actually looks like President Donald Trump's residence in Mar-a-Lago." To this someone said, "So this is copied." Witkoff then said, "This is fabulous...He (Trump) actually works on it himself. He is like an architect."

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French President Emmanuel Macron also spoke to the officials. Macron described the talks as an important “convergence.” France announced that talks in the same format would continue in London next week. US Secretary of State Rubio wrote on X that the American delegation in Paris was looking to “secure real, practical solutions to end the Russia-Ukraine war.”

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Rubio also spoke by phone Thursday with his Russian counterpart, Sergey Lavrov, conveying the same message he gave the delegations in Paris.“President Trump and the United States want this war to end, and have now presented to all parties the outlines of a durable and lasting peace,” the statement says. “The encouraging reception in Paris to the U.S. framework shows that peace is possible if all parties commit to reaching an agreement.”

(With inputs from agencies)