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

US envoy Jared Kushner says he and fellow envoy Steve Witkoff are working with Russia, Ukraine and Europe to advance peace negotiations, including arranging direct talks between Europe and Moscow. The move matters as European leaders seek a role in discussions about Ukraine’s future and security, while recent negotiations have made little progress towards ending the war.

Talks in Abu Dhabi on Tuesday produced a prisoner exchange but no breakthrough. On Friday, European leaders agreed that the UK, France, Germany, Italy and Poland would represent the bloc at future talks; all five have also indicated readiness to contribute troops to a proposed ceasefire security force. France’s Emmanuel Macron urged Europe to set out its post-war aims, while Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelenskyy said US negotiators had raised whether Ukraine would leave Donbas in exchange for NATO membership. Russian statistics agency figures leaked in November put Russian military deaths at at least 450,000.