Moscow sets conditions for Europe in Ukraine talks
Witkoff says Putin agreed to let Europeans into the next round. The Kremlin has not confirmed it and tells Europe to choose between peace and war.
Steve Witkoff, President Donald Trump's special envoy, said Vladimir Putin has signed off on European participation in the next round of talks on Ukraine. He spoke after meeting the Russian president at the Kremlin on Thursday, together with Jared Kushner.
Moscow has not confirmed it. The Kremlin's official readout of that meeting mentions no deal on Europe.
It says something else. Presidential adviser Yuri Ushakov said Europeans are "trying by all means" to join, but must first decide whether they want peace or a continuation of the war. "So far, all their practical actions point to the latter," he added.
The meeting followed two days of talks among Russian, Ukrainian and U.S. delegations in Abu Dhabi, on Nov. 10 and 11. It was the first three-way round since February and ended without a breakthrough toward peace.
Ushakov also said the sides agreed in principle on another prisoner exchange, "likely the largest to date," with its terms still to be worked out. There have been 35 swaps since 2025, each freeing about 5,000 people on each side.
After the Kremlin, Witkoff and Kushner flew to Dublin to meet Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and representatives of European capitals.
Why Europe is the sticking point
Washington and Moscow resumed talks without Brussels. As far back as February 2025, Keith Kellogg, then Trump's envoy, signaled Europeans would not get a seat at the table, and Finland answered by calling for an EU special envoy. Since then, European Union governments have failed to agree on who would speak for them with Moscow.
Russia also rejects any role for European troops stationed in Ukraine after a cease-fire. Ushakov called the idea "the recipe for an endless war" and pushed instead for an "indivisible security architecture" that includes no further NATO expansion.
With Europe at the table, the question of who can veto or back a deal changes. Without it, any pact between Washington and Moscow would depend on governments that did not negotiate it to carry it out, pay for it and guarantee it, including those that arm Kyiv.
Putin and Trump will pick up the dialogue at the APEC summit in Shenzhen, China, a meeting Ushakov said holds "great value" for both sides.
