US Envoys Meet Putin in Moscow, Then Hold Talks With Zelenskyy in Dublin

U.S. envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, who is also President Donald Trump's son-in-law, met with Russian President Vladimir Putin at the Kremlin on Thursday before traveling to Dublin for talks with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, as Washington sought fresh momentum for its peace push with the conflict nearing the five-year mark.

Witkoff and Kushner spent about two hours with Putin, then met Zelenskyy in the Irish capital for more than an hour. Earlier this week the pair brokered a session in Abu Dhabi between delegations from Moscow and Kyiv, the first direct discussions between Ukrainian and Russian representatives in nine months. Those talks yielded no major breakthrough beyond an agreement to swap a large number of prisoners, with the exact figure still to be announced.

Plans for another round of talks were also announced, with Witkoff and Zelenskyy saying Europe will take part, though neither gave details on which countries or how many. Kushner said one aim of the Putin meeting was to secure the Russian leader's blessing for European representatives to join the negotiations, which are examining the continent's broader security arrangements. In Abu Dhabi, several European security advisers were involved only on the sidelines.

Speaking to reporters before leaving Moscow, Witkoff said the next round had been agreed upon, and Russian state TV showed him saying that "the Europeans will join at the next meeting." Zelenskyy indicated in Dublin that European representatives would sit on the negotiation team itself rather than remain apart, saying, "They will have a voice." Washington and Kyiv want Europe to appoint a single person to negotiate with Moscow.

Russia has resisted European involvement in direct negotiations, complaining that European countries finance and supply Ukraine's military. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov argued Europe must first name a representative, saying, "The Europeans squabble like spiders in a jar." Washington and European capitals have at times appeared at odds: Trump has repeatedly sided with Putin and last month waived sanctions and struck a deal to import Russian diesel, moves that dismayed Ukraine and European leaders.

Many in Europe also view Moscow's inclusion in discussions about postwar European security as an unwelcome concession to Putin, who calls NATO's eastward expansion a main security threat and has demanded the alliance pull troops back from Russia's borders. Some analysts say negotiators may consider granting Russia concessions on NATO strategy in exchange for peace in Ukraine, a prospect that alarms European leaders.

Putin aide Yuri Ushakov called Thursday's talks "substantive, constructive, frank and useful." He said Putin reminded the envoys of Moscow's 2021 proposals, made before it sent troops into Ukraine, demanding NATO roll back deployments in Central and Eastern Europe, and that Russia would update them with "fresh considerations." Putin also told the envoys that any European troops sent to Ukraine after a ceasefire would be "absolutely unacceptable" and treated as legitimate targets, saying, "In other words, the war would resume immediately." He added that Russia regards the border sealed by a prospective deal as covering the four Ukrainian regions Moscow annexed in 2022 but never fully controlled.

Zelenskyy is in Dublin for a gathering of more than 40 European countries that also includes NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte. Rutte said the U.S., Europe and Ukraine are "very much aligned" on what security guarantees should look like following a January meeting in Paris, adding, "But now of course we need the peace deal, or at least a ceasefire." Meanwhile, fighting continues along the roughly 1,200-kilometer front line, where Russian drone and missile strikes on energy facilities have disrupted heat, electricity and water in Ukrainian cities in what Kyiv calls a "weaponization of winter."

Russia's Defense Ministry said its air defenses downed 71 Ukrainian drones overnight and that its forces struck a drone-manufacturing plant in Kyiv and three other facilities producing missile fuel and drone components near the capital. Ukraine's air force said Russia launched missiles and 123 drones, 73 of them jet-powered, with hits recorded at 17 locations.

Zelenskyy also said Thursday that Ukraine is experiencing another slowdown in the U.S. Starshield satellite system, SpaceX's military-grade version of Starlink, with military units recording significant disruptions including speed restrictions limiting Ukrainian drones to 161 kph (100 mph). He said a military investigation found the restrictions were not random errors and that Kyiv is seeking answers from U.S. officials. Elon Musk has acknowledged SpaceX throttled Starlink service in Ukraine for about a week last month, saying the system could not be used for offensive strikes against Russia. Separately, a Russian serviceman was killed early Thursday in St. Petersburg when his vehicle exploded; the Fontanka news outlet reported the victim was a colonel whose car bomb detonated as he drove off, the latest in a series of deadly attacks on senior Russian officers that Moscow blames on Ukraine.