Putin warns sending European troops to Ukraine after a peace deal could restart war

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US envoys met Putin in Moscow and Zelenskyy in Dublin, and said Europe will join the next round of Ukraine peace talks. | World News

Russian President Vladimir Putin has agreed to include European representatives in the next round of Ukraine peace talks, according to US envoy Steve Witkoff. The development came after Putin met US envoys Witkoff and Jared Kushner in Moscow on Thursday. The two later travelled to Ireland to meet Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner met Putin in the Kremlin on Thursday. The meeting lasted about two hours, according to AP. Kushner is also President Donald Trump’s son-in-law.

Witkoff told Russian state TV: “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,” as per Reuters.

According to AP, Kushner said one goal of the meeting was to get Putin’s blessing for European representatives to join the talks. Kushner told Putin the US had seen “a big change” on the European side.

Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov did not confirm that the Europeans would join the next round, according to Reuters. He called the talks “substantive, constructive, frank and useful."

Putin said Russia has never been against talking to Europe, as per Reuters. He said: “As far as the Europeans are concerned, we have never been opposed to engaging in dialogue with Europe, and we have never broken off that dialogue. It was they who broke off the dialogue with the Russian Federation.”

He warned that Europe’s idea of sending Western troops into Ukraine after a peace deal would restart the war. Russia would see it as a threat to its own security, he said.

Putin said: “We would very much like you, gentlemen, and the US administration as a whole, to work with your European allies so that they can finally make up their minds as to what they want: peace or war in Ukraine.”

Putin also said Russia sees its border with Ukraine as now covering the four Ukrainian regions that Moscow says it annexed in 2022.

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