Ukraine War: Witkoff announces Europe's participation in negotiations

US special envoy Steve Witkoff apparently sees movement in the struggle to end the war in Ukraine. "I think progress has been made," he told CNN after a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow.

Referring to the talks between Ukraine, Russia and the US in Abu Dhabi on Tuesday and Wednesday, he added that no one thought that these tripartite talks would be resumed. But that happened. "We have arranged a new date," he said. European representatives are apparently also expected to take part. "The Europeans will be at the next meeting, which we think is a very big deal because it is important - they are our partners and it is important that they be included," Witkoff told reporters, according to Reuters and the Washington Post.

After more than eight months, a Ukrainian and a Russian delegation sat opposite each other for the first time on Tuesday and Wednesday under US mediation for direct talks about an end to the Russian war of aggression that has been going on for more than four and a half years. In Abu Dhabi, representatives of the so-called E3 from Great Britain, France and Germany as well as Italy were present on the sidelines of the talks, but did not meet directly with Russian representatives.

After Putin in Moscow, Witkoff and Kushner meet Zelensky in Dublin

Following the meeting, Witkoff and US President Donald Trump's son-in-law, Jared Kushner, traveled to Moscow, where they met Putin. The Kremlin chief reiterated Russian territorial demands. He also proposed a temporary ceasefire for the Donbass town of Kostiantynivka in order to evacuate civilians from there, as was recently the case from the Moscow-occupied front-line town of Oleshky. However, the situation in Kostiantynivka is not as clear as in Oleshky. According to military bloggers, there are still positions of Ukrainian soldiers there.

According to diplomatic circles, European representatives will also take part in a meeting between Witkoff and Kushner with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyj scheduled for Thursday evening. Advisers and diplomats from France, Germany, Great Britain and possibly other countries would be present at the meeting on the sidelines of the European Political Community (EPG) summit in Dublin, it said.

Who should actually represent Europe when it takes part in the negotiations?

With a view to upcoming negotiations, however, there is disagreement about who should actually represent Europe in these. US representative Kushner calls for the appointment of a responsible representative of European interests. "If Europe could identify a person to speak on its behalf, that would be a greater success than getting the Russians to participate," Kushner said. Donald Trump's son-in-law was alluding to the fact that the Europeans do not have a clearly defined negotiator and do not always act in a fully coordinated manner.