US special envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Ireland following a visit to the Kremlin, pushing for Europeans to be present at future negotiating tables. The pair landed at a military base near Dublin on Thursday to address the media alongside Zelenskyy.
Concrete steps towards ending the war and ceasefire discussions took a back seat, with the trio announcing that European negotiators would be involved in future discussions on ending Russia's war on Ukraine. Zelenskyy told reporters that Europe would have a voice during future talks and would not be kept separately on the sidelines.
Zelenskyy stated that Europe's involvement is important because the war is in Europe and Ukraine will be a future European Union member for prosperity and security guarantees. In a post on X, Kushner wrote that both sides had agreed to expand the next round of negotiations to include European partners to address broader postwar European security arrangements alongside territorial issues.
Moscow has not confirmed whether it has agreed to include European negotiators in subsequent talks. In comments shared by the Russian foreign ministry, presidential aide Yuri Ushakov said Europeans are striving to join negotiations but must decide whether they want peace or the continuation of the war.
The diplomatic push follows meetings between Witkoff, Kushner and Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow earlier in the week. Putin signalled that Russia would not back down on territorial demands to control parts of Ukraine and rejected foreign peacekeeping troops, dampening hopes of a nearing deal to end the war.
Source: Euronews. Read the original report ↗