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.
The Russian leader said Washington must work with its European allies to understand if they want peace or war in Ukraine a U.S. envoy said.
“The Europeans will join at the next meeting, which we consider to be a very important moment because they are our partners and it's important to us that they take part,” Witkoff told Russian state TV after meeting Putin in the Kremlin.
The U.S.-led prisoner swap scheme is expected to potentially allowing thousands of people to return home and reunite with their families according to envoy Jared Kushner.
“We are also working toward what would be the largest prisoner exchange of the war, potentially reuniting thousands of people with their families,” Jared Kushner wrote on X, without providing further details.
Kushner said involving European partners would allow negotiators to discuss wider security arrangements for the continent alongside the territorial disputes between Russia and Ukraine.
Washington was encouraged by the progress made so far, he said, although significant differences remained.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy welcomed the prospect of European involvement. Following talks with U.S. envoys Steve Witkoff and Kushner, he said it was important that diplomatic efforts had resumed.
He also expressed hope that future discussions would address ceasefire arrangements and ways to reduce tensions.
The latest developments follow talks in Abu Dhabi earlier this week, marking the first round of peace discussions in nine months.
Despite renewed diplomatic efforts, Moscow and Kyiv remain divided over several key issues, particularly territory.
Russia controls around a fifth of Ukrainian territory and continues to seek control over parts of the eastern Donbas region. Kyiv has repeatedly rejected demands to surrender territory it still holds.
Kushner said a lasting agreement would require credible security guarantees and “reciprocal” commitments to reduce military tensions and prevent future conflict.
The U.S. envoys have travelled to Moscow to meet Putin and then to Dublin for talks with Zelenskyy as Washington steps up efforts to end the conflict.
Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. Trump, who promised to end the war after returning to the White House, has yet to secure a peace agreement.
While the proposed prisoner exchange could offer hope to thousands of families, major disagreements over territory and security guarantees continue to stand in the way of a broader settlement.
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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.
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.
A gunman shot dead his building’s manager and wounded four other people in Washington, D.C. on Thursday, before barricading himself inside his apartment and taking his own life after a standoff with police, officials said.
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