Kushner and Witkoff hold talks with Putin before heading to meet Zelensky as Europe seeks a seat at the peace talks
U.S. presidential envoys Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff flew to Moscow on the morning of November 12, and their meeting with Vladimir Putin began at the Kremlin shortly after noon.
Russian presidential aide Yuri Ushakov said before the meeting that it would address “various issues leading to a durable settlement of the crisis around Ukraine.” Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Putin “will determine our future positions based on what he hears from the Americans.”
Axios sources reported the day before that the meeting would address the postwar future: Witkoff and Kushner would propose that Russia lay out its vision for security in Europe, similar to the December 2021 demands for “security guarantees,” but taking into account “that the world has changed a lot since 2021.”
Kushner and Witkoff also proposed expanding the format, according to Axios, so that European representatives could be included in the trilateral talks. Finnish President Alexander Stubb has already announced that a technical meeting including Ukraine, Russia, the United States, and Europe will take place in the coming weeks.
Who, exactly, might represent Europe in the talks remains unclear. According to a Politico source, EU heads of state will discuss the question tomorrow at an informal summit in Dublin.
The source said no official decision on a special representative is expected, though the leaders could reach an “understanding” about who that might be. The outlet also reported that Volodymyr Zelensky is insisting the final choice of negotiator be agreed with him.
Kushner and Witkoff are also expected to arrive in Dublin this evening and meet with Zelensky by day’s end. Zelensky spoke positively the day before about the talks held in Abu Dhabi, stressing there was “no negativity” in them.
“I don’t know all the details. I think there was still a bit of Russian history and so on in there. But we no longer pay attention to that. During that time, you can just step out, rest, have some coffee,” Zelensky said. He also said that although “the Americans flew to Putin with something concrete,” he is skeptical that they “will come back to Dublin with something concrete.”
On territorial issues, Zelensky said U.S. representatives are constantly trying to “find some options” for Donbas, but he again stressed that only leaders should discuss the final decision.
Kyiv has already complained, unofficially, that the focus of the talks has shifted from an actual end to the Russia–Ukraine war toward strategic questions about the future architecture of European security. RBC-Ukraine’s sources said the Russian delegation refused to discuss a ceasefire, territorial issues, energy, or security in the Black Sea at all on the second day of talks in Abu Dhabi. Kyiv and Europe had earlier expressed concern that expanding the scope of the talks could let Moscow prolong the fighting.
The war in photographs. Kyiv.
A Russian drone hit a nine-story apartment building in Kyiv’s Solomianskyi District on the morning of November 12, injuring seven people and killing one woman.
REUTERS/Valentyn Ogirenko
(Photo by Vladyslav Musiienko / AFP)
An apartment damaged in the attack
(AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky)
Rescue workers carry the body of the woman who was killed
(AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky)
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