Yesterday 13:38

Russia calls for Europe’s direct involvement in peace negotiations to end the war in Ukraine

Gabriel Dumitrache

25 October 2026, 13:38

International

Vladimir Gerdo / Zuma Press / Profimedia

Always see our news on Google

Europe must be included in negotiations on a peace agreement in Ukraine, as its support for Kyiv could be decisive, Yuri Ushakov, foreign policy adviser to Russian President Vladimir Putin, said on Sunday. The statement was made in an interview with Russian state television and reported by Reuters and Agerpres.

Ushakov argued that the United States had failed to exert sufficient pressure on Kyiv to accept an agreement, despite the efforts of the Donald Trump administration. According to the Russian official, talks cannot be held with Ukraine alone, since all of Europe supports its position.

The statement comes as the leaders of the United Kingdom, Germany, and France support the organization of negotiations between Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Vladimir Putin and maintain that Europe must have a role in the peace process. Russia says it is open to dialogue but rejects ultimatums.

Ushakov announced that Moscow is prepared to resume trilateral talks with Ukraine and the United States after Russia’s National Unity Day, observed on November 4. Zelenskyy said that negotiators from the three countries are expected to meet at a technical level in the first half of November, in Abu Dhabi.

The Kremlin adviser also said that talks are being prepared between Putin, Trump, and Chinese President Xi Jinping, on the sidelines of the APEC summit in China, scheduled for November 18 and 19. A separate meeting between Putin and Trump in Shenzhen has not been scheduled.

Context: ahead of the resumption of talks, Trump’s envoy pushed the technical format, while Zelensky called for Ukraine’s presence

Before the Kremlin’s statements, U.S. President Donald Trump’s special envoy, Steve Witkoff, asked Vladimir Putin, at a meeting in St. Petersburg, to consider resuming trilateral negotiations between the United States, Russia, and Ukraine. According to reports, the talks would continue through technical teams, while Jared Kushner took part in the meeting by phone to convey American proposals.

In parallel, the Trump administration linked a possible end to the war to the revival of Russian-American economic relations, discussing Russian fertilizer and diesel exports to the United States, including cooperation on Iran. Russia was expected to send the first shipment of approximately 40,000 tons of diesel.

In Oslo, Volodymyr Zelensky called for Ukraine to be present at the negotiating table if matters related to its future are discussed, following his conversation with Witkoff. He thanked the United States for resuming the provision of intelligence for detecting Russian missiles and expressed confidence that discussions about the Starlink system and the delivery of Patriot interceptors would have a positive outcome.