Putin lets Europe join Ukraine peace talks, as Kyiv says Starshield disrupted again

Detailed summary

MOSCOW, Nov 12 - President Vladimir Putin agreed on Thursday to let European representatives join the next round of Ukraine peace talks, a US envoy said, though the Russian leader…

MOSCOW, Nov 12 - President Vladimir Putin agreed on Thursday to let European representatives join the next round of Ukraine peace talks, a US envoy said, though the Russian leader said Washington must work with its European allies to understand if they want peace or war in Ukraine.

The move to give Europe a seat at the negotiating table at the next round of talks, which US envoy Steve Witkoff told reporters about after the talks, is a breakthrough. But Putin's comments underlined how difficult the negotiations could become, given sharp differences between Moscow and European capitals.

"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.

But in a sign of renewed tensions, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy - who Witkoff and Kushner were expected to meet later in Dublin - said new restrictions were affecting the US-made satellite communications Kyiv uses on the battlefield, and that he found the US approach of discussing a new European security order with Russia "a bit strange".

Zelenskiy voiced alarm after two days of trilateral talks in Abu Dhabi earlier this week at which Kyiv and Moscow said there had been some progress but that major differences remained, including on territorial issues.

"So far we know very little (on the Starshield restrictions). But some things are already clear: if someone in America is making decisions that basically treat Ukrainian territory as if it is not Ukrainian, then it tells us where things are going," said Zelenskiy.

The main outcome of the Abu Dhabi talks, the first direct US-mediated negotiations between Russia and Ukraine in nine months, was agreement on a major exchange of prisoners of war likely to take place in the coming weeks.

Serious unresolved issues remain however, including differences over territory - with Russia holding about one fifth of…

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