U.S. envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner met Russian President Vladimir Putin at the Kremlin in Moscow on Thursday, November 12, as Washington intensified diplomatic efforts to negotiate an end to the war in Ukraine. The meeting followed two days of U.S.-mediated negotiations in Abu Dhabi involving Russian and Ukrainian representatives. Following the Moscow discussions, the American delegation travelled to Dublin, Ireland, for talks with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
Witkoff announced that Putin had agreed to another round of trilateral negotiations involving Washington, Moscow and Kyiv. European representatives are also expected to participate in the upcoming discussions, following Kushner’s proposal that European governments appoint a single negotiator to coordinate their involvement. Kremlin aide Yury Ushakov indicated that Putin and U.S. President Donald Trump were expected to continue discussions on Ukraine during the upcoming Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in China later this month.
During the Moscow meeting, Putin proposed a five-day humanitarian ceasefire in the contested eastern Ukrainian city of Kostyantynivka to allow civilians to evacuate. Ukrainian officials responded cautiously, expressing concerns that Russia could exploit a temporary suspension of hostilities to reposition troops and military equipment. Kyiv cited previous experiences in Oleshky, where Russian forces were accused of using a humanitarian pause to strengthen their military positions.
The diplomatic developments followed two days of negotiations in Abu Dhabi, marking the first direct talks between Russian and Ukrainian representatives in nine months. Although the discussions reportedly produced an agreement on a significant prisoner exchange, negotiators failed to achieve a breakthrough on a comprehensive peace settlement. Territorial disputes and competing security demands remain major obstacles to an agreement.
Putin reiterated that Russia would only accept a settlement based on the existing lines of control across the four Ukrainian regions Moscow claims to have annexed. Zelenskyy, however, maintained that Ukraine would not surrender occupied territory as a condition for peace. The Russian president also rejected the deployment of European or other foreign peacekeeping forces in Ukraine after a potential agreement, warning that such troops would be considered legitimate military targets. Moscow continues to demand broader changes to Europe’s security arrangements, including restrictions on NATO expansion.
The diplomatic push unfolded against a backdrop of continued military escalation. Russian forces launched overnight missile and drone attacks targeting Ukrainian energy infrastructure, while Ukrainian forces carried out long-range strikes against Russian oil refineries. Ahead of his meeting with the American delegation in Dublin, Zelenskyy also warned of renewed systematic disruptions to Ukraine’s frontline Starshield satellite internet services, raising concerns about communications and battlefield coordination.
Despite renewed diplomatic engagement, the prospects for a comprehensive settlement remain uncertain. While Washington is seeking to bring Russia, Ukraine and European governments into a broader negotiating framework, disagreements over territorial sovereignty, security guarantees and foreign military deployments continue to complicate efforts to end the conflict.
