ISTANBUL
US special envoy Jared Kushner said Moscow and Kyiv have agreed that the next round of peace talks between Russia and Ukraine will include the participation of European representatives.
In a statement on US social media company X late Thursday, Kushner summarized negotiations he held since Tuesday, together with US special envoy Steve Witkoff, as part of US-mediated efforts to find a settlement to the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war.
“We have made meaningful progress in understanding both sides’ concerns, identifying possible solutions, and establishing a path forward. Both sides have now agreed to expand the next round of negotiations to include our European partners,” Kushner said.
This will allow them to address broader post-war European security arrangements alongside the territorial issues between Russia and Ukraine, he said.
An end to the war requires “credible security guarantees, deconfliction mechanisms, and reciprocal de-escalation commitments that reduce the risk of future conflict,” he added
Talks with Zelenskyy
Kushner stated that he agreed with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to continue contacts, including with Kyiv’s negotiation team.
He reaffirmed that no broader European security arrangements will be finalized without addressing Ukraine’s security concerns.
“We will begin discussing these interconnected issues in parallel, with the understanding that, apart from humanitarian measures, nothing will be finalized until a comprehensive agreement is reached,” Kushner said.
He further said that they are also working toward the “largest” prisoner swap of the war, which emerged as a key outcome of the latest US-mediated Russia-Ukraine peace talks in the Emirati capital Abu Dhabi on Tuesday and Wednesday.
He went on to express hope that both sides will demonstrate the goodwill and seriousness necessary to carry out the exchange, noting they expect to announce the negotiating tracks, schedule, and additional details “shortly.”
“President Trump is determined to end this horrible war. Significant differences remain, but we are encouraged by the progress made.
We will undertake whatever hard diplomatic work is necessary to find a breakthrough that ends the fighting,” he added.
Diplomatic flurry
Kushner’s statement came after he and Witkoff met with Zelenskyy in the Irish capital Dublin, where the Ukrainian president arrived Wednesday.
The US envoys flew to Dublin after meeting Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow on Thursday afternoon, where they arrived in the morning after taking part in the trilateral talks in Abu Dhabi.
Russian authorities have not yet commented on Kushner’s remarks.
Following the talks in the Kremlin on Thursday, Russian presidential aide Yury Ushakov said Moscow hopes Europe will support efforts to agree on the parameters of a new European security architecture, which he said Russia is ready to begin immediately “in tandem” with the US.
Ushakov said in remarks to reporters that while Europe is making every effort to get involved in the negotiations, it must decide on whether it seeks peace or continues the war. “So far, all their practical actions point to the latter,” he added.
