Jens Asbjørn Bøgen
According to the US envoys, another meeting is already scheduled.
Russian President Vladimir Putin sat down in Moscow on Thursday with US negotiators Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner.
After the meeting, Kremlin aide Yury Ushakov told reporters the talks were useful and frank, Russian news agency TASS reported.
According to Ushakov, the US team shared updates from three-way talks in Abu Dhabi.
“Both we and the Americans assessed these negotiations and these contacts as constructive and productive,” Ushakov said at a briefing.
Ushakov also noted that Putin and US President Donald Trump will discuss the conflict during an upcoming Asia-Pacific summit in China.
Clear message in Dublin
Straight after leaving Moscow, Witkoff and Kushner flew to Ireland where they met with Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky.
Before the meeting in Ireland, Ushakov said the Kremlin hopes “the signals from Moscow will be conveyed” to Kiev “to a tee.”
Yet Moscow accused Kiev of stalling a settlement. Ushakov said the meeting noted Kiev avoids peace “because it would be necessary to immediately announce the holding of general elections, and no one wants to lose power.”
Sharp warnings for Europe
European leaders faced much tougher words from Moscow. Ushakov said Europeans “are clawing to join the negotiations,” adding they “must decide whether they want peace or the continuation of the war.”
Russia also rejected plans to send European troops to Ukraine. Ushakov warned that such proposals are “a recipe for an endless war.”
Instead, Moscow wants to build a new security framework with Washington, reviving its 2021 demands to stop NATO expansion and pull alliance weapons away from Russian borders.
Both sides also backed a new humanitarian mission in Konstantinovka, a city in the Donetsk region, Ushakov claimed.
US envoys: Europe will be at the next talks
Following the talks between Witkoff, Kushner and Zelensky in Dublin, Kushner told reporters that post-war security plans for Ukraine were in the making, but that a deal could not be finalized without Europe being present at the table.
Later, Kushner posted on X that “both sides have now agreed to expand the next round of negotiations to include our European partners.”
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No specific dates for the next round of talks have been released, but Witkoff told reporters in Dublin that another meeting was “on the schedule.”
