The key facts

  • Witkoff and Kushner met Zelensky at a military base near Dublin after talks with Putin in Moscow
  • Kushner said both sides agreed to expand the next round of talks to include European partners
  • Moscow has not confirmed the Europeans' participation; Ushakov said Europe must choose between peace and continuing the war

Meeting in Ireland and statement on Europe's role

US special envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner arrived at a military base near Dublin on Thursday, where they appeared before journalists together with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. The meeting took place this week, shortly after the American envoys' visit to the Kremlin, where they held talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Main takeaway: Europe gets a seat at the table

The key announced outcome was that European negotiators will be involved in further discussions on ending the full-scale war, which began in February 2022 after Russia's invasion. Zelensky told journalists that Europe would have a 'voice' in future talks and would not be left 'separately' on the sidelines — as happened in the recent three-way talks between the US, Russian and Ukrainian delegations in Abu Dhabi. 'This is important for us, because the war is taking place in Europe. We will become an EU member in the future, and that is why this is very important. For prosperity and for security guarantees, it is very important to have Europe,' Zelensky said.

Kushner: expansion of talks agreed by both sides

Kushner, the son-in-law of US President Donald Trump, wrote in a post on X that both sides had agreed to expand the next round of talks to include European partners. According to him, this will make it possible to discuss broader postwar European security mechanisms alongside territorial issues between Ukraine and Russia.

Moscow's reaction: agreement not confirmed

Moscow has not confirmed whether it agreed to include European negotiators in subsequent rounds. In comments released on Friday morning, the Russian Foreign Ministry reported that presidential aide Yuri Ushakov said: 'As far as we are concerned, the Europeans' position has been laid out in full. They are seeking by all possible means to join the talks, but, as our president said, they must decide whether they want peace or the continuation of the war.'

Context of the Moscow talks

The statement about Europe's participation came after Witkoff's and Kushner's meeting with Putin in Moscow earlier this week. Following that meeting, Putin made clear that Russia would not retreat from its territorial demands for control over parts of Ukraine and rejected the idea of stationing foreign peacekeeping forces in the country, which lowered expectations of a swift deal to end the war. Thus, Russia's consent to European participation remains unconfirmed, while Moscow's position on territorial issues remains unchanged.