Russian President Vladimir Putin is ready to allow European representatives to participate in the upcoming round of talks on ending the war in Ukraine. Jared Kushner, special envoy to US President Donald Trump, said this in Dublin after meeting with Putin in Moscow.
“We cannot reach this agreement without the participation of the European side. We emphasized to President Putin how important this is. President Zelensky also strongly supports this approach – he has been talking about it from the very beginning. I believe that we managed to reach an understanding with President Putin and that he is ready to try it,” Kushner said.
According to him, the United States has worked closely with European countries in recent months, and this cooperation is “critically important” for future talks. Kushner said that through direct meetings, European and Russian representatives would be able to discuss all the necessary issues.
After the meeting with Putin
Kushner and special envoy Steve Witkoff met with Putin at the Kremlin on November 12. After the talks, they traveled to Dublin, where they met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. The meeting followed talks involving Russian, Ukrainian and American representatives in Abu Dhabi on November 10 and 11.
Witkoff told reporters that Europeans would participate in the next meeting. According to him, Europe would be part of the negotiating team rather than being briefed separately after the talks concluded. The statement came against the backdrop of European countries’ insistence that they not be excluded from negotiations affecting the security of the continent.
What remains unresolved
The American statements confirm a readiness to expand the format of the talks, but not that a peace agreement has been reached. Russia continues to reject the deployment of European troops in Ukraine after a possible ceasefire, with Putin describing such a presence as a security threat and a possible legitimate target.
Kushner said there was a desire to end the war, which has continued since Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022. “This war has been going on for a long time. It has obviously affected many people, and I believe that our focus now is on what the future can bring,” he said.
The next round of talks is expected to include European representatives, but no specific date has been announced, nor have the composition of the delegations and the main agenda items been clarified.
Sources: apnews.com, reuters.com, irishtimes.com