Moscow. Russian President Vladimir Putin says he is open to talks with Europe about Ukraine. Putin made the comments on Thursday at a meeting with US mediators Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner in the Kremlin. He also proposed a joint Russian-Ukrainian humanitarian operation that would enable the residents of the eastern Ukrainian town of Kostiantynivka to be evacuated.
At the start of the talks, Witkoff told Putin that “a lot of good things” had happened during the negotiations. The talks in Abu Dhabi were “very positive”.
"It is an important meeting today. We are resuming trilateral talks and I speak for the president when I say we must resolve this conflict," Witkoff said. “We are confident that we will soon be able to announce the next trilateral meeting... which will hopefully also include the Europeans,” he added.
Kushner said the U.S. side has seen "a big change" among the Europeans and is very confident that expanding peace talks to include the Europeans will not impede progress. Russia was never against dialogue with Europe, Putin was quoted as saying by the Interfax news agency. The president told U.S. negotiators they must first talk to the Europeans and find out whether they wanted peace or war.
Before the start of the European Political Community meeting in Dublin, Chancellor Friedrich Merz said that talks in Abu Dhabi on Tuesday and Wednesday between Ukraine, Russia and the USA had produced “some positive signals”. But he expects Putin to finally agree to talks with Europeans at the table. “I note with some satisfaction that there is obviously a willingness to recognize more and more on the Russian side that we cannot talk about Europe without Europe,” said Merz. “It’s important that we Europeans stand together.”
Putin's proposed humanitarian action refers to the city of Kostiantynivka, which he says is controlled by Moscow. Ukraine has contradicted this representation in the past. The project could be modeled on a similar initiative at the end of last month in the Russian-controlled city of Oleshky in southeastern Ukraine, Putin said.
This had allowed residents to leave the area while relief supplies were delivered to those who remained there. Russia needs five days to clear the area in the Kostiantynivka area, Putin said. He added that 400 to 500 city residents were still on site.
The negotiations in the Kremlin were the tenth personal meeting between Witkoff and Putin during the war that has now been raging for four and a half years. Putin is calling for the entire Donbass in eastern Ukraine to become Russian territory, which the government in Kiev rejects. However, Ukraine is ready for an immediate ceasefire, which Russia rejects.
“Wherever the foot of a Russian soldier stands, the country belongs to us,” Putin’s chief negotiator at the talks in Abu Dhabi, Vladimir Medinsky, said on state television on Wednesday. The state news agency Tass also quoted him as saying that “every centimeter” of the land that Moscow considers Russian land will be reclaimed.
The European Union urges a place at the negotiating table to ensure that decisions affecting Europe's security are not made over its head. While the Kremlin has said the EU should be included in the talks in due course, it has tempered those expectations in recent days. He pointed to the lack of constructive proposals from Brussels and the EU's inability to appoint a representative for future talks, accusing it of a lack of realism.
There is controversy in Europe as to who could lead the negotiations. So far, the E3 states Germany, Great Britain and France have been indirectly involved in the talks, but this has met with criticism from the EU institutions and also in Italy. Luxembourg Prime Minister Luc Frieden spoke in Dublin in favor of EU Council President Antonio Costa representing the European Union in talks with Russia. “If we need joint representation, he is the natural representative.”
António Costa, in turn, made it clear after a meeting of around 40 European heads of state and government in Dublin that work should continue in different formats until further notice. We work as a team, said Costa in the final press conference.
Accordingly, Germany, France and Great Britain, as the so-called E3, supported by EU and NATO representatives, could retain the lead in contacts with US negotiators Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff. Depending on whether security, financial or economic issues are involved, other actors would also be involved.
Federal Chancellor Friedrich Merz also made it clear at the summit of the so-called European Political Community (EPG) that he does not believe it is necessary to determine a single top representative at this point in time. “What matters here now is not people, but rather that Putin is willing to hold talks,” he said. It is important that Russia comes to the table and is ready for talks. Everything else will then fall into place. The question of European participation is being discussed behind closed doors.
Previously, Kushner's statements following the recent direct talks between Moscow and Kiev under US mediation sparked a new debate about Europe's voice in the negotiations. Kushner said: “If Europe could identify a person to speak on its behalf, that would be a greater success than getting the Russians to participate.”
