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Europe to Join Next Round of Russia-Ukraine Peace Talks, Zelensky and Kushner Say
By Maya Wilson
Photo: Dati Bendo / European Union (CC BY 4.0)
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky welcomed a pledge by U.S. envoys Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff to include European Union delegates in the next round of peace talks with Russia, the BBC reported.
Zelensky said European participation would ensure the EU had a “voice” in the negotiations, according to the BBC. Kushner and Witkoff met Zelensky in Dublin on Thursday evening after meeting Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow earlier the same day.
The BBC reported that Putin said Russia’s position, including its demand for territory, had not changed. The meetings followed talks in Abu Dhabi last week that failed to produce a breakthrough in efforts to end the war.
Kushner said the United States had been “working very, very closely over the past several months with Europeans and I think that that’s been very important.” He said he had stressed to Putin the importance of having European delegates “at the table,” adding: “He’s willing to give it a try.”
The talks also produced an agreement on another prisoner exchange between Russia and Ukraine, which the BBC described as the largest swap yet since the full-scale invasion in 2022. Kushner said it would return “thousands of people to their families,” but the BBC reported that no numbers or timeline were given.
Zelensky has called for European participation in the peace talks for several years, the BBC reported. European governments have argued they are key stakeholders because the war is on their doorstep and they have provided significant aid to Ukraine, although Moscow has been dismissive of their involvement.
The next step is another round of talks with European delegates included, according to the BBC. No specific European nations or individual delegates were named, and no venue or date for the next round was given.
Maya Wilson
World Desk, The Library Media
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