Kremlin Talks Cover Borders and Security
MOSCOW — Special United States envoys Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff finished more than four hours of closed-door talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow on Thursday, November 12, 2026. They then flew directly to Dublin to brief Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. Witkoff told reporters Moscow agreed to let European representatives join the next round of peace negotiations on ending the war in Ukraine. Kremlin foreign policy aide Yuri Ushakov called Thursday’s discussions substantive, constructive and frank, centered on territorial boundaries and long-term European security arrangements.
More than fifty European leaders gathered in Ireland for the ninth European Political Community summit. Ukrainian diplomats welcomed the inclusion of European allies but stressed Kyiv would reject any settlement requiring unilateral territorial concessions across eastern provinces. Putin accepted European diplomatic participation but warned that deploying European peacekeeping troops inside Ukraine after a ceasefire would be deemed absolutely unacceptable; he said such troops would be treated as legitimate military targets and warned fighting would resume immediately.
Putin proposed a five-day humanitarian demining ceasefire in the Donetsk stronghold of Kostyantynivka, modeled after an October truce near Oleshky. Ukraine’s presidential office said it must clarify operational terms before agreeing to any pause. Carnegie Russia Eurasia Center senior fellow Tatiana Stanovaya noted that Russian forces exploited the October Oleshky humanitarian pause, rotating troops and deploying additional drones, artillery and multiple-launch rocket systems. Russian delegation chief Vladimir Medinsky vowed Moscow would reclaim claimed eastern territories by military force if negotiations collapse.
European leaders in Dublin stressed any credible ceasefire must include verifiable enforcement protocols and robust air defense support for Ukrainian cities. Officials in Kyiv and Brussels confirmed working-level consultations will continue throughout the weekend before next week’s bilateral leaders summit.
