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Putin lets Europe join Ukraine peace talks, as Kyiv says Starshield disrupted again
Putin backed European participation in future peace talks as Ukraine said Starshield limits again slowed frontline communications and drone interceptions.
On Thursday, President Donald Trump's envoys Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff met President Vladimir Putin at the Kremlin, seeking new momentum in peace efforts after two days of negotiations.
Kushner and Witkoff brokered the first direct discussions between Moscow and Kyiv in nine months in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, as the push for peace stalled.
Putin reaffirmed European troops in Ukraine are "absolutely unacceptable" as a security threat, while Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy insisted Ukraine will not surrender Russian-occupied territory for peace.
Envoys are scheduled to fly to Dublin, Ireland, for talks with Zelenskyy, who called a proposed prisoner swap a positive step despite ongoing fighting along the 1,200-kilometre front line.
Zelenskyy sees a "window of opportunity" for a peace deal due to political changes, including Democrats taking over Congress, as Moscow continues its "weaponization of winter" against Ukraine.
Up First from NPR discuss Kushner and Witkoff’s post-Abu Dhabi shuttle diplomacy to Moscow after a major Russia–Ukraine prisoner exchange and the U.S. push for a new European security framework