Europe to join next Ukraine talks, US envoy says

MOSCOW/DUBLIN

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky, U.S. envoys - President Donald Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner (unseen) and businessman Steve Witkoff (R), address members of the media after their meeting at Casement Aerodrome in Baldonnel, west of Dublin on Nov. 12, 2026. . (Photo by Paul Faith / AFP)

European representatives will join the next round of Ukraine peace talks, U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff said, while Russian President Vladimir Putin reiterated his opposition to foreign troops and demilitarized zones in Ukraine.

Witkoff and fellow U.S. envoy Jared Kushner met Putin in Moscow on Nov. 12 before traveling to Dublin to brief Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

“The Europeans will join at the next meeting,” Witkoff told Russian state television after the Kremlin talks.

Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov did not confirm European participation in his subsequent briefing and criticized Europe’s continued military support for Ukraine.

Zelensky welcomed the prospect after meeting the American envoys, saying European representatives should have an equal place at the negotiating table.

The meetings followed two days of U.S.-mediated Russian-Ukrainian talks in Abu Dhabi on Nov. 10–11.

Those discussions produced an agreement in principle on a major prisoner exchange, but no peace deal. Zelensky said Ukraine hoped the exchange would be the largest since the war began.

In televised opening remarks at the Kremlin, Putin rejected proposals involving contested or demilitarized areas between Russian and Ukrainian positions.

“For us, there is only one line of demarcation – the state border,” he said.

Moscow claims Crimea and the Ukrainian regions of Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia as Russian territory, although it does not fully control the four regions. Kiev has rejected surrendering territory it still holds.

Putin also warned that foreign troops deployed to Ukraine after a peace agreement would be regarded as “a legitimate target” and would cause fighting to resume.

He proposed a joint Russian-Ukrainian humanitarian mission to Kostiantynivka, modeled on an evacuation and aid operation in Oleshky last month.

Ukraine disputes his claim that Russian forces control Kostiantynivka.

Fighting continued during the diplomatic exchanges. Russian attacks on Kiev killed one person and wounded eight on Nov. 12, Mayor Vitali Klitschko said.

Zelensky separately reported renewed restrictions on Starshield, the military version of SpaceX’s Starlink satellite communications service, affecting Ukrainian operations along the front line and in Russian-occupied territory.

He said a 161-kilometer-per-hour operating limit on equipment using the service was hampering efforts to intercept Russian jet-powered drones. Kiev was seeking clarification from U.S. officials, he added.

SpaceX told Axios: “This is false. There has been no change.”