Kushner announces EU nations to join Ukraine peace talks after Abu Dhabi round

Jared Kushner, U.S. President Donald Trump's envoy, announced Thursday that Russia and Ukraine have agreed to include European nations in the next round of peace talks, following a three-day diplomatic push through Abu Dhabi, Moscow and Dublin.

Kushner said Washington is working toward "the largest prisoner exchange of the war," which he indicated would potentially reunite thousands of people with their families, without specifying terms.

Expanding the talks with European partners, Kushner said, would allow negotiators to address "broader postwar European security arrangements alongside the territorial issues between Ukraine and Russia." He added that any lasting settlement requires "credible security guarantees, deconfliction mechanisms, and reciprocal de-escalation commitments."

Kushner and fellow envoy Steve Witkoff met Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Dublin. Kushner's statement noted consultations with National Security Advisors from Ukraine, Germany, Italy, the EU, France, Ireland and Poland.

Zelensky welcomed European inclusion in the next round and said it was important the process had resumed, describing the Abu Dhabi session as the first in nine months. Witkoff separately said Putin agreed to let European representatives join, though Putin also urged Washington to establish whether European allies wanted peace or war.

Both Kyiv and Moscow said major differences remain, particularly on territorial issues. Russia holds a fifth of Ukraine's territory; Kyiv refuses to cede the remainder of its eastern Donbas region. Kushner acknowledged "significant differences remain" despite progress made.