US, Ukraine say Europe to join Russia talks as Putin holds hard line

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DUBLIN: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and US envoy Jared Kushner said on Thursday that Europe would join the next round of talks with Russia, as ...

DUBLIN: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and US envoy Jared Kushner said on Thursday that Europe would join the next round of talks with Russia, as Vladimir Putin signaled Moscow would not compromise on its hardline demands to end almost five years of war.

In a packed day of shuttle diplomacy following negotiations in Abu Dhabi, Kushner and fellow envoy Steve Witkoff held more than four hours of talks with Putin at the Kremlin before flying to Dublin to brief Zelensky.

Speaking to journalists on the tarmac of a military airbase in Ireland, the Ukrainian leader and US President Donald Trump’s representative presented European participation in future talks as the main sign of progress.

Zelensky said Europeans would take part rather than remain “separately” on the sidelines as they had in Abu Dhabi. “They will have a voice,” he said.

Kushner later wrote on X that “both sides have now agreed to expand the next round of negotiations to include our European partners”. “Significant differences remain, but we are encouraged by the progress made,” he posted, adding that the schedule and details would be released “shortly”.

An EU official told AFP that representatives of five European capitals and the European Commission also met the US envoys, and that a new multilateral meeting “will be fixed soon”.

The Kremlin did not confirm that Putin had agreed to include Europe in future talks, which Kyiv and its allies have long sought.

Instead, the Russian leader earlier told the US envoys he would not water down demands to control parts of Ukraine that Russia claims to have annexed. He also ruled out foreign peacekeeping troops in Ukraine, saying such a deployment would be a “continuation of war” and that Moscow would see any such force as a “legitimate target”.

Putin’s comments appeared to dampen hopes that a peace deal could be getting closer.

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