A new round of multilateral peace talks on Ukraine could take place as early as next week. European representatives may join the negotiations, although the Russian side has not yet confirmed their participation.
US negotiator Jared Kushner announced the timeframe for the next meeting on Russia’s Vesti television program.
According to Kushner, the issues discussed by the US delegation during its meeting with Putin will influence the next round of multilateral talks.
“I think overall, we had very thorough and detailed discussions on all the topics, which I hope will inform the next multilateral discussions,” Kushner told reporters after the Kremlin meeting, according to CNN.
US Special Envoy Steve Witkoff also said progress had been made and that a new meeting had been agreed upon.
“I think progress was made. People didn’t think that we were going to restart trilateral talks. We’ve restarted them. We’ve set a new meeting,” Witkoff told a CNN reporter at Moscow’s Vnukovo Airport.
Witkoff also said European representatives were expected to join the next round of talks.
“They’re our partners, and it’s important for them to be involved,” the US negotiator noted.
Putin’s aide Yuri Ushakov confirmed that trilateral talks between Russia, Ukraine and the United States would continue, but was reserved about European participation.
“They are making every effort to get involved in the negotiations, but, as our president has said, they need to decide whether they want peace or a continuation of the war. So far, all their practical actions point precisely to the latter,” Ushakov said.
During the meeting at the Kremlin, Putin told the US representatives that Russia had never opposed dialogue with Europe.
Meanwhile, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov had previously criticized the presence of European officials in Abu Dhabi, describing their involvement in the negotiations as unpromising.
The previous round of talks involving Ukraine, the United States and Russia took place in Abu Dhabi on November 10–11. According to Kyiv’s assessment, the sides made progress on certain issues, but no final agreements were reached.
Following their meeting with Putin, Witkoff and Kushner traveled to Dublin, where they are expected to meet Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and discuss the results of the Moscow talks.
According to Bloomberg, despite the diplomatic contacts, Russia and Ukraine have not changed their positions on ending the war. A source close to the Kremlin described the US representatives’ meeting with Putin as a “courtesy visit.”
