Putin meets US envoys, demands full control of four Ukrainian regions

Russian President Vladimir Putin met US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner at the Kremlin on 12 November 2026, and insisted on full control of four Ukrainian regions that Moscow claims to have annexed, The Guardian reported. Putin also warned that Russia would target foreign troops if they were deployed to Ukraine, describing a foreign peacekeeping deployment as a continuation of war.

Putin said Russia recognizes only one demarcation line with Ukraine: the state border, according to Civic.am, a news site close to the governing Civil Contract party. He also claimed that US President Donald Trump proposed an agreement on a European security system, but European countries rejected it.

The positions contrast with those of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who said Ukraine could not consider giving up the Donbas region in a settlement and sought concrete US answers on security guarantees.

Before the Kremlin meeting, Zelenskyy said he wanted the envoys to bring back Russia’s responses to questions raised in Abu Dhabi, including security guarantees in the event of a ceasefire, an energy ceasefire and a possible meeting of three leaders.

Speaking in Dublin on 11 November, Zelenskyy said there was a window for progress in peace talks before the end of 2026. He linked it to possible political changes after European elections the following year and changes under way in US politics.

Latest · 13 November 2026

US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner briefed Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Dublin late Thursday after their Moscow discussions, Politico Europe reported. Witkoff said Russian President Vladimir Putin had agreed to European representatives joining the next round of Ukraine talks, according to Al Jazeera. It remained unclear who would represent Europe.

US envoy Steve Witkoff said a further round of trilateral talks had been agreed with Russian President Vladimir Putin and that Europeans would join the next round, the BBC reported. The Kremlin had not confirmed the composition of the talks. The planned negotiations are separate from Witkoff and Jared Kushner’s meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Dublin.

US envoy Jared Kushner said Russia and Ukraine had agreed to include European nations in the next round of peace talks, France 24 reported. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy welcomed the US envoys’ pledge to include European Union delegates, saying it would give the EU a voice in negotiations, according to the BBC. Kushner also said Washington was working toward what he called the war’s largest prisoner exchange; no number or timeline was given.

Russia’s state-run TASS news agency reported that the exchange should take place in two to three weeks, according to Al Jazeera. The exchange remains under preparation.

US envoy Jared Kushner said expanded talks involving European partners would address postwar European security arrangements alongside territorial issues between Russia and Ukraine. Apart from humanitarian measures, nothing would be finalized before a comprehensive agreement, he said, adding that Ukraine’s security concerns must be addressed before any broader European arrangements were concluded. Kushner said a lasting peace required credible security guarantees, mechanisms to prevent clashes and reciprocal de-escalation commitments; negotiating tracks and a schedule would be announced shortly. But European leaders meeting in Dublin rejected calls to recreate Europe’s security architecture and reiterated that Russia must stop attacking Ukraine, The Guardian reported. UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham said Europe, including countries outside the EU, would decide its own arrangements and that these were not up for negotiation in the talks. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called Washington’s approach of discussing a new European security order with Russia “a bit strange,” according to The Moscow Times.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Russia would decide whether to expand the Ukraine talks to include the European Union only after understanding the EU’s intentions and willingness to contribute to peace, DW reported. He said Russia would be ready to talk to Europeans if they genuinely wanted talks and had an authorized representative. EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said Moscow had no say over who represented the bloc. Peskov’s remarks contrast with US envoy Jared Kushner’s earlier statement that Russia and Ukraine had agreed to include European nations in the next round; the expanded format remains unsettled.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Moscow was open to some form of contacts with Europe before any European participation in peace negotiations, but that no concrete discussions on such contacts had taken place, CNA reported.

Latest · 12 November 2026

At the Moscow meeting, Vladimir Putin proposed a 5-day ceasefire for Kostyantynivka, a contested front-line city in Ukraine’s Donetsk region, the BBC reported. Ukrainian presidential adviser Dmitry Lytvyn said the details needed clarification and alleged that Russian forces had brought in equipment and rotated troops under cover of an earlier humanitarian operation in Oleshky. The previous month’s ceasefire had allowed civilians to evacuate the Russian-occupied city.

Kremlin aide Yury Ushakov said Russia and the US had agreed to begin detailed discussions on a proposed humanitarian operation in Kostyantynivka, for which Putin had suggested a five-day ceasefire. Ushakov said Russia was ready to begin demining immediately and would invite Ukrainian, European and US journalists once preparations were complete. He also said a further prisoner exchange had been agreed in principle in Abu Dhabi, with its parameters still being finalized. According to Ushakov, Witkoff and Kushner had departed for Dublin, where they were due to meet Zelenskyy and European representatives.

Europe’s role in the talks

After the meeting, Witkoff said European representatives would join the next round. Both the US and Russia have urged European leaders to appoint a single representative; Putin said a four-way dialogue would follow the appointment of a chief negotiator authorized to speak for Europe.

European Union foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas called discussion of a new European security architecture a distraction without a ceasefire. She said Russia should comply with existing agreements and not attack another country again.

The envoys were due to travel to Dublin to brief Zelenskyy on the Moscow meeting; on 11 November, he said he expected to meet them the following evening. European leaders were due to discuss their representation on 13 November, having not yet nominated a single representative.