Zelensky Says Europeans Will Join Peace Talks, as Moscow’s Position Remains Uncertain
Key Facts
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Europeans would be invited to the next meeting in talks to end the war with Russia, putting their role on the negotiating table, though Moscow has not confirmed the arrangement. A report by Le Monde on November 13 said Zelensky announced the plan, without specifying a date for the next meeting. U.S. President Donald Trump’s envoy Jared Kushner said an agreement between Moscow and Kyiv would not be possible without European participation. He added: "We cannot make this deal" without Europeans at the table. The remarks come amid disagreements over security guarantees, territory and the role of European countries in any settlement.
Kushner said Europe’s participation was a condition for reaching an agreement, while Zelensky stressed that it should be fully represented in negotiations with Russia. The Ukrainian president said this was particularly important for Europe’s security, support for Ukraine and any commitments European countries would undertake. Moscow has not confirmed, according to Le Monde’s report, that it agrees to invite Europeans to the next meeting. Meanwhile, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Moscow might decide to hold broader talks on a settlement once it understood Europe’s intentions and readiness to facilitate the peace process. Peskov said: "When we understand Europe's true intentions and its readiness to facilitate the peace process, it will be possible to decide whether to hold dialogue on a settlement in Ukraine in an expanded format."
Russian President Vladimir Putin rejected deploying European forces in Ukraine to guarantee security after a peace agreement, calling the proposal unacceptable. Le Monde quoted him as saying that deploying those forces "would mean continuing the war," adding that the proposal was "absolutely unacceptable." He also rejected creating gray or demilitarized zones around the front line. Putin again described the regions of Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson as Russian territory, underscoring the ongoing territorial dispute in the negotiations. Kremlin adviser Yuri Ushakov said, according to the Associated Press, that any European forces sent after a ceasefire would be considered a security threat and a legitimate target, warning that "the war would resume immediately."
Russia’s stated positions also include Moscow’s 2021 proposals, which called on NATO to roll back its military deployment in Central and Eastern Europe. Ushakov said Putin had raised those proposals again with U.S. envoys and that Moscow would update them by adding new considerations. Russia says the borders set by any peace agreement should include the four Ukrainian regions it annexed in 2022, despite not having established full control over them. Zelensky, by contrast, said Ukraine would not agree to surrender territory occupied by Russia in exchange for peace. The Associated Press reported that the fate of occupied territory, security guarantees and the role of European countries are among the main obstacles to a settlement.
The two-day Abu Dhabi talks, mediated by the United States, ended with Russia and Ukraine agreeing to a major exchange of prisoners of war, without a major breakthrough toward ending the war. Zelensky described the humanitarian outcome as potentially leading to the largest prisoner exchange since the war began, and said Kyiv was working to expand European representatives’ participation in the diplomatic process. The reported statements did not confirm a Russian demand for the full handover of Donbas or for Finland to leave NATO. A possible summit bringing together Putin, Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation meeting in Shenzhen had not been confirmed. The three leaders were expected to attend the summit on November 18 and 19, while their advisers’ ability to agree on a shared agenda remained the main obstacle to holding their meeting.