Zelensky: Europe must be part of peace talks as fighting continues along the front

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky met in Ireland yesterday with US special envoys Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff as part of Washington’s push to keep momentum in talks aimed at ending the war.

Zelensky said Europe must participate directly in any future negotiations because the war is being fought on European soil and European presence is essential for security guarantees.

“The American side, the American group made progress with respect to the Europeans and this is important — the Europeans next time, at the next meeting, will be present during the negotiations, as a negotiating team, not in some way, not separately, they will have a voice. This is important for us because the war is in Europe. We will be a member of the EU in the future and therefore it is very important, and for prosperity and for security guarantees it is very important to have Europe. And I think this is very important,” said Volodymyr Zelensky, President of Ukraine.

Jared Kushner, who has held talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow and with Ukrainian and Russian delegations in Abu Dhabi, said a peace deal cannot be reached without European countries at the table.

“Also, in recent months we have worked very, very closely with the Europeans. And I think that was very important. We cannot conclude this agreement without the Europeans at the table. We told President Putin that we believe that this is very important, and President Zelensky was a very strong supporter and said that from the very beginning. And that we are able to achieve that with President Putin and that he is prepared to try,” Kushner said.

Steve Witkoff said the US envoys had a “very, very good and positive meeting” in the UAE and described plans for a major prisoner release. “But most importantly, President Trump is determined to lead the step to end this war. Those are the instructions for me and Jared. That is why we are here tonight,” he added.

Diplomacy and fighting continue in parallel

The meeting in Ireland followed Kushner and other US envoys’ talks in Moscow and direct exchanges between Ukrainian and Russian delegations in Abu Dhabi. While the Abu Dhabi meetings produced no breakthrough, the sides agreed on a large exchange of military prisoners; the exact number has not been released.

President Vladimir Putin convened a meeting of the Russian Security Council with members of the Russian negotiating team who returned from Abu Dhabi, asking them to report their impressions and findings. Despite ongoing diplomatic contacts among the US, Russia and Ukraine, fighting continues on the ground along a front roughly 1,200 kilometres long.

Photo: press material from the event