In a week when the question was less about terms than about seats, a pair of American envoys came back from Moscow saying Europe would be invited into the talks meant to end the war in Ukraine. Ukraine's president welcomed the idea, hoping that a wider table would keep the future from being settled by Washington and Moscow alone. Elsewhere, negotiators in Abu Dhabi agreed to swap prisoners, a small and concrete thing set against a war that continues around it, while Russia's chief negotiator reaffirmed that Moscow means to reclaim every inch of its claimed land. What comes next will show wheth
After Putin Meeting, U.S. Envoys Say Europe Will Join Talks to End the Ukraine War
Ukrainian and Russian prisoners are to be exchanged under the Abu Dhabi talks agreement, with the wider war continuing.
The format may be widening while the stated aims stay hard.
Mark
So what actually changed this week?
Mimi
Two things. After meeting Putin in Moscow, Witkoff and Kushner said Europe will join the talks. And in Abu Dhabi, the U.S., Russia and Ukraine finished a round with an agreement to exchange prisoners.
Mark
Why does Europe's seat matter?
Mimi
Zelenskiy welcomed it. Kyiv has reason to want European governments in the room rather than leaving talks to Washington and Moscow.
Luke
Careful, though. Who is saying Russia agreed? Reuters says Putin is letting Europe join, but the headline we have comes from the American envoys. We don't have a Kremlin statement here.
Mimi
Fair. The reporting attributes it to the envoys and to Reuters' framing, nothing more precise.
Mark
And the prisoner exchange?
Mimi
It's the one concrete deal. Ukrainian and Russian prisoners will be swapped.
Luke
But we don't know how many, or when. Don't picture a date that isn't there.
Mark
What about the Russian negotiator vowing to return every inch of Russian land?
Mimi
It cuts against the optimism. The format may be widening while the stated aims stay hard.
Luke
And we don't know the context of that remark, so I wouldn't read too much into it either way. What's confirmed is thin: a meeting, a claim, an exchange agreement.
Der Puls
- U.S. envoys Witkoff and Kushner returned from Putin in Moscow claiming Europe will be brought into the Ukraine peace talks.
- Zelenskiy welcomed the prospect, seeing European seats as a way to prevent a two-party deal between Washington and Moscow.
- Abu Dhabi delegations from the U.S., Russia and Ukraine agreed a prisoner exchange, the sole concrete outcome so far.
- Putin's chief negotiator vowed to reclaim 'every inch' of Russian land, cutting against any sign of softening.
- Open questions remain on how European participation would work, and whether the prisoner swap actually happens.
In a week when the question was less about terms than about seats, a pair of American envoys came back from Moscow saying Europe would be invited into the talks meant to end the war in Ukraine. Ukraine's president welcomed the idea, hoping that a wider table would keep the future from being settled by Washington and Moscow alone. Elsewhere, negotiators in Abu Dhabi agreed to swap prisoners, a small and concrete thing set against a war that continues around it, while Russia's chief negotiator reaffirmed that Moscow means to reclaim every inch of its claimed land. What comes next will show whether a larger room means nearer peace, or only different voices in the same unresolved conflict.
The week's headlines turned on a single question: who gets a place at the table where the Ukraine war is being negotiated. After Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner met Vladimir Putin in Moscow, they said Europe would be brought into the talks to end the fighting. Reporting from several outlets framed the same meeting in slightly different ways, but the thread running through them is that the American envoys asked for European inclusion and walked away saying Russia had accepted.
Volodymyr Zelenskiy welcomed the prospect. For Kyiv, European governments at the table are a safeguard against negotiations becoming a conversation held mainly between Washington and Moscow.
In parallel, delegations from the United States, Russia and Ukraine concluded talks in Abu Dhabi and agreed to a prisoner exchange. It is the clearest result in the material, though the number of people involved and the timing have not been reported. The tone from Moscow remained hard: Putin's chief negotiator vowed to return "every inch of Russian land," a statement that sits uneasily beside the talk of wider participation.
Much is still unclear. The available reporting consists of headlines and brief summaries, with no detail on how European involvement would be structured or whether Moscow has formally committed. What to watch is whether European delegations actually appear and whether the prisoner exchange is carried out as agreed.
The headlines gathered around a single question this week: who gets a seat at the table where the future of the Ukraine war is being negotiated. After U.S. envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner met Vladimir Putin in Moscow, they reported that Europe will be brought into the talks on ending the war.
The account comes through several outlets. The Washington Post carried the envoys' statement that European countries would join the process. Reuters framed it from the Kremlin's side, reporting that Putin was letting Europe take part in the Ukraine peace talks. The New York Times described the Moscow meeting as one in which Witkoff and Kushner asked Putin to include Europe. Taken together, the reporting suggests the request was made in Moscow and that the U.S. side came away saying it had been accepted.
Ukraine's president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, welcomed the prospect of European participation, according to Reuters. For Kyiv, the presence of European governments has been a way to keep the negotiations from becoming a conversation held mainly between Washington and Moscow.
A second track ran alongside the Moscow meeting. Delegations from the United States, Russia and Ukraine wrapped up talks in Abu Dhabi, and DW reported that the teams agreed to a prisoner exchange. That is the most concrete outcome in the material: Ukrainian and Russian prisoners are to be swapped, while the wider war goes on around them. The reporting available here does not say how many people are involved or when the exchange will happen.
The tone from Moscow was not conciliatory across the board. The Atlantic Council reported that Putin's chief negotiator vowed to return "every inch of Russian land" in Ukraine. The statement sits uneasily beside the news about Europe joining talks, and it indicates that Russia's stated aims have not visibly softened even as the format of negotiations widens.
Much remains unsettled. The source material consists of headlines and brief summaries rather than full reports, so it offers no detail on how European participation would be structured, which countries or institutions would take part, or when a meeting might take place. It also does not spell out whether Russia has formally committed to the arrangement or whether the claim rests mainly on what the American envoys said after leaving the room.
What to watch next is whether European delegations actually appear in the negotiations, and whether the Abu Dhabi prisoner exchange is carried out as agreed. Those two developments will show whether this week's announcements amount to movement toward a settlement or only a change in who is sitting in the room.
Bemerkenswerte Zitate
Russia's chief negotiator vowed to return 'every inch of Russian land' in Ukraine.— Putin's chief negotiator, as reported by the Atlantic Council
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