Moscow Opens a Seat for Europe in Ukraine Talks and Ties It to Its Conditions

US envoy Steve Witkoff, one of President Donald Trump's most prominent envoys, announced that the Moscow talks with President Vladimir Putin had seen 'progress,' after a meeting that brought him and Jared Kushner, Trump's son-in-law, together with the Russian president in Moscow on Thursday.

The progress Witkoff meant was Europe's participation. After nearly two years of its effective exclusion from the talks with Russia, Moscow appeared to have agreed to give Europe a seat at the negotiating table, something it had previously refused.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky welcomed the step, telling reporters in Ireland after a briefing from Kushner and Witkoff during a meeting of European leaders: 'It is important that the Europeans be part of the negotiating team,' and that next time they not be elsewhere or separate, and that they have a voice.

Kaja Kallas, the European Union's top foreign policy official, said in Dublin: 'They have now realized that Europe is a major player here,' after nearly two years of talks between the United States and Russia, adding that the Europeans 'are the ones who supported Ukraine, the ones who imposed the sanctions, and they hold the frozen Russian assets.'

Antonio Costa, president of the European Council, announced Friday that the European team would be represented by the EU institutions and the 'E5' countries: France, Germany, Italy, Poland and Britain.

Kushner had noted the difficulty of 'Europe defining a single person to speak on its behalf,' considering that achieving that 'would be a bigger achievement than persuading the Russians to include them in the negotiations.'

But Moscow did not explicitly acknowledge its full agreement to a European presence. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said in his press briefing Friday that Europe must show 'its readiness to contribute to the peace process' before a decision is taken on including it in upcoming negotiations.

Yuri Ushakov said in a briefing to reporters after the Moscow talks: 'All their practical actions point to the second,' meaning that they, the Europeans, must decide whether they want peace or the continuation of the war.

Television quoted Putin as telling Witkoff and Kushner that the Europeans reject European security arrangements before a peace agreement is completed, then want to deploy their forces after it is completed, 'and this means the continuation of the war. It is a vicious circle.'

The indications suggested that Moscow, after accepting the principle of European involvement, is returning to its maximalist demands: calling on NATO to withdraw from Eastern Europe, and holding to its position on the deployment of peacekeeping forces along the contact lines.

The war, ongoing for years, is estimated to have killed hundreds of thousands on both sides.