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🇮🇪 Ireland /Conflict & Security

One breakthrough at Russia-Ukraine talks

From Irish Times · () English

Summarized by DistantNews. Read the original for the full story.

At a glance

Analysis Named sources Ongoing story
  • U.S. envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner held talks with Russian and Ukrainian leaders to revive negotiations over the war in Ukraine.
  • The meetings produced no breakthrough, but the participants described them as substantive, and a senior Ukrainian official said the U.S. proposals were more effective.
  • Advisers from Germany, France and Britain joined the final hour of talks in Kyiv, highlighting Europe’s growing role in the diplomatic effort.

The latest attempt to revive talks on the war in Ukraine produced no breakthrough, but a senior Ukrainian official said the American envoys arrived with proposals that were more effective than earlier efforts.

Donald Trump’s peace envoys, Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, traveled to Moscow and Kyiv over the weekend. They met Vladimir Putin in Moscow and Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Kyiv, but the discussions did not yield an agreement. All sides nevertheless described the meetings as substantive.

“It’s not the same as it was before. This one now is more effective. They’re still talking. This is actually the most important part,” the Ukrainian official told Agence France-Presse.

It’s not the same as it was before. This one now is more effective. They’re still talking. This is actually the most important part

· Senior Ukrainian officialThe official assessed the proposals brought by Trump’s envoys to Kyiv.

The weekend diplomacy followed CIA Director John Ratcliffe’s visit to Moscow last month, the first such trip since his predecessor Bill Burns visited before Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022. Reports said Ratcliffe may have warned Moscow against attacking a NATO member and encouraged a return to negotiations that stalled six months ago in Geneva. U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent later invited Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov to a G20 finance meeting in Asheville, North Carolina. Witkoff and Kushner also discussed economic cooperation with Putin alongside the war.

Attention has focused on Zelenskyy’s suggestion that the war could continue through the winter. He said Ukraine hoped to reach agreements with its American partners and would count on European support if the conflict continued, adding that this appeared likely at present. Kushner called for renewed trilateral talks among the United States, Russia and Ukraine, a proposal Zelenskyy endorsed. In a potentially important development, German, French and British national security advisers joined the final hour of the Kyiv meeting.

We very much hope that we will be able to reach agreements with our American partners, and we are counting on the support of our European partners if the war continues in winter, and this is how it appears at the moment

· Volodymyr ZelenskyyHe discussed the possibility of the war continuing through the winter.
About this summary

Originally published by Irish Times. Summarized and contextualized automatically by DistantNews, with a note on how the source frames the story. Not individually reviewed before publishing. How this works.

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