Europe to join next Ukraine peace talks as Putin holds to territorial demands

Volodymyr Zelensky announced that European countries would participate in the next negotiation round instead of remaining separately on the sidelines, saying they would have a voice. The announcement followed U.S.-mediated Russian-Ukrainian talks in Abu Dhabi. [1][2]

U.S. envoys Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff then held more than four hours of discussions with Vladimir Putin at the Kremlin before traveling to Dublin to brief Zelensky. Kushner said an agreement between Moscow and Kyiv could not be concluded without Europe at the table. [1][2]

The European role was reinforced in Dublin, where French President Emmanuel Macron said no decision on Europe’s security could be made without Europeans. The meeting brought together 40 countries, according to the reporting. [1]

Europe still faces a practical obstacle: its governments have not yet agreed on a common representative for the negotiations. That leaves the promised participation politically important but not fully organized. [2][3]

The negotiations concern a war that began with Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022. The reporting says Russia currently occupies a little more than 19% of Ukraine and claims four regions whose annexation Kyiv and the international community reject. [2][1]