Putin agrees to European role in Ukrainian peace talks as U.S. push for major prisoner swap
President Vladimir Putin agreed on Thursday to let European representatives join the next round of Ukraine peace t...
Diplomatic efforts to end the war in Ukraine remain stalled after talks in Abu Dhabi ended without an agreement. Moscow has since ruled out dialogue with the EU’s top diplomat.
Meanwhile, Kyiv says a key U.S. security deal is ready for signature, signalling limited progress behind the scenes.
The Kremlin said it would not engage in any discussions with EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas, insisting it would simply wait for her to leave office.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov dismissed the idea of talks outright, saying: “How can you discuss anything with Kaja Kallas? We will never discuss anything with her… We just have to wait until she leaves.”
Peskov also said Moscow was closely monitoring U.S. plans for the “Golden Dome” missile defence system, stressing Greenland’s strategic importance for global security.
“It’s a strategic location in terms of security. I don’t want to speak on who can threaten Greenland, but it has a lot of importance regarding strategic stability and security,” he added.
On the Ukrainian side, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said a U.S. document outlining security guarantees for Ukraine is “100% ready” and now awaits a date and location for signing.
Speaking in Vilnius, Lithuania he said the agreement would require ratification by both the U.S. Congress and Ukraine’s parliament, while underlining that European security guarantees remain essential.
Zelenskyy also reiterated his demand for a clear end date to the war and insisted Russia must sign a U.S.-backed 20-point plan. “I hope America will not reduce pressure on Russia for the sake of diplomacy,” he said, calling on Europe to maintain sanctions and tougher measures against Russian oil shipments.
Ukraine and Russia held their first trilateral talks with U.S. mediators on 23–24 January in Abu Dhabi. Although no deal was reached, Kyiv said the discussions narrowed the number of unresolved issues and further talks are expected soon.
He said Moscow was seeking to pressure Ukraine into abandoning eastern regions it has failed to fully seize since launching its full-scale invasion, but stressed that Kyiv remained firm in its position that Ukraine’s territorial integrity must be preserved.
“These are two fundamentally different positions – those of Ukraine and Russia,” Zelenskyy said, adding that the United States was attempting to bridge the gap and that all parties, including Washington, would need to be prepared to compromise.
European leaders gathered in Dublin on Thursday, 12 November, for the ninth European Political Community (EPC) summit, with security, defence and energy high on the agenda. Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev held talks focused on peace, trade and regional cooperation.
UN Secretary-General António Guterres delivered a stark warning at this year's COP31 summit, saying the climate crisis iss advancing faster than governments' efforts to contain it.
Iran will not let a single particle of its enriched nuclear material leave the country, and any new U.S. attack would be met with strikes on distant American bases, Iranian security chief Mohsen Rezaei has said.
Nvidia chief executive Jensen Huang is stepping down amid reports linking him to a woman suspected by U.S. authorities of spying for China, throwing the future of the $4 trillion chipmaker into uncertainty.
Here's your AnewZ Daily Brief for 11 November. Today, we cover Russia-Ukraine peace talks, political tensions in Washington, strikes in Spain, espionage allegations involving Nvidia's CEO, and climate negotiations at COP31 in Türkiye.
President Vladimir Putin agreed on Thursday to let European representatives join the next round of Ukraine peace talks while the United States continues to work towards what could become the largest prisoner exchange of the Russia-Ukraine war.
Azerbaijan and the UK have pledged to strengthen defence, trade and education cooperation after signing a joint declaration elevating relations to a strategic level in Dublin, Ireland on Thursday (12 November).
More than 333,000 people have been forced from their homes in Yemen since the beginning of August as fighting has escalated, including more than 24,000 in the past week alone, the United Nations said on Thursday.
A court in Russia’s Baltic exclave of Kaliningrad has sentenced human rights lawyer Maria Bontsler to 12 years in prison on treason charges, after prosecutors accused her of passing sensitive information to Ukraine.
U.S. President Donald Trump has threatened to double tariffs on Mexico unless it stops more than a thousand migrants who are walking north towards the United States, warning that they will be denied entry.
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