US now focused on 'facilitating direct engagement' between Russia, Europe, Kushner says after Ukraine peace talks

Detailed summary

"Our focus now is on facilitating direct engagement between Moscow and European partners and preparing the agenda for the next round of trilateral talks," Kushner said.

The U.S. is now focused on "facilitating direct engagement" between Russia and Washington's European partners and preparing the agenda for the next round of Ukraine peace talks, U.S. envoy Jared Kushner said Nov. 14.

Kushner and envoy Steve Witkoff met with President Volodymyr Zelensky and Russian President Vladimir Putin separately after two days of U.S.-brokered talks between Ukrainian and Russian delegations in Abu Dhabi, which ended without a breakthrough on a broader ceasefire or peace agreement.

"Our focus now is on facilitating direct engagement between Moscow and European partners and preparing the agenda for the next round of trilateral talks," Kushner said in a post on the social media platform X.

NATO will remain a "critical pillar" of European security and "credible" security guarantees for Ukraine, he added.

"Several new ideas emerged from these discussions and are now being explored. Some may lead to breakthroughs directly, while others may evolve into new proposals that help bridge the remaining gaps," Kushner said.

On Nov. 13, Zelensky told journalists that a new American proposal under discussion would see Ukraine granted NATO membership in exchange for withdrawing from territories it still controls.

"The Americans raised the question: 'What if Ukraine joins NATO? Would Ukraine withdraw from Donbas?' This was the first time this issue had been raised," Zelensky said.

Eastern Ukraine's Donbas region consists of Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts, which were first partially occupied by Russia in 2014 and which Russian forces have not managed to fully capture.

Opening of the article, excerpted from The Kyiv Independent. To read the rest, open the article on the publisher's site.