US envoy Kushner says he aims to broker Europe-Russia talks on Ukraine

US envoy Jared Kushner has said he is working with Russia, Ukraine and Europe to move peace talks to the next stage, including facilitating direct engagement between Europe and Moscow. Kushner told reporters Saturday that "both sides" know that compromises will be necessary to end the war, and that he and fellow envoy Steve Witkoff were now working on next steps.

European involvement grows

The prospect of Europe's involvement in the talks has grown in recent weeks, with leaders agreeing on Friday to send five representatives of European countries to represent the bloc at future peace talks. The five countries attending are the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, and Poland – the five countries that have signalled readiness to send troops as part of a "coalition of the willing" to secure Ukraine in the event of a ceasefire.

War continues amid talks

The war has raged while negotiations continue. November leaks from Russia's official statistics agency showed that Russia's war effort has so far cost the lives of at least 450,000 soldiers. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Wednesday he did not think it was possible to think about European security "without Europe".

Zelenskyy said Friday that US negotiators had asked during the Abu Dhabi talks whether Ukraine would withdraw its troops from its eastern region of Donbas in exchange for joining NATO. The Kremlin has signalled an openness to negotiations with Europe, but it has criticised a lack of proposals from the bloc.