Peace Talks With Russia to Focus on Broader Security Architecture in Europe: Kushner

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff, and Jared Kushner after a joint news conference, amid Russia’s attack on Ukraine, in Kyiv on Sept. 6, 2026. Valentyn Ogirenko/ReutersThe United States is working hard with all parties in the Ukraine–Russia war to establish lasting peace, U.S. negotiator Jared Kushner has said ahead of U.S.-mediated talks between Kyiv and Moscow.“Our focus is not only on ending this terrible war, but on the broader security architecture needed to ensure that when the fighting stops, it never starts again,” Kushner, U.S. President Donald Trump’s son-in-law, said in a Nov. 4 post on X.Kushner added that he appreciated Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and his team’s engagement and commitment to finding a path toward resolution.Earlier, Zelenskyy had revealed details of his conversation with Kushner and U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff, which he described as “very detailed” in a Nov. 4 post on X.According to Zelenskyy, the 90-minute conversation served as preparation for the trilateral working-level discussions set to take place on Nov. 10–11 in Abu Dhabi.Zelenskyy expressed his desire for negotiations to move forward in order to bring the war to an end as quickly as possible.He said Ukraine’s proposals were clear and had been shared with the American side.While in Germany meeting with Chancellor Friedrich Merz, Zelenskyy said on Nov. 3 that he hoped the upcoming working-level discussions could pave the way for a meeting between the leaders of Ukraine, Russia, and the United States.Talks RevivedEarlier this week, Witkoff announced that the Abu Dhabi talks would focus on de-escalation, next steps toward peace, humanitarian efforts, and post-war security arrangements.“We look forward to building on the progress made in Kyiv, Oslo, and St. Petersburg toward a comprehensive, durable peace agreement that delivers lasting security for generations to come,” the U.S. envoy said in a Nov. 2 post on X.Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told Russian media on Nov. 3 that Russia and Ukraine will discuss mutual security guarantees.“The talks will cover security issues, including security guarantees. These can only be mutual,” he said, according to Russian state news agency TASS.Russian President Vladimir Putin met with Witkoff on Oct. 21 at the Constantine Palace outside St. Petersburg. The Kremlin later said Putin agreed in principle to resume U.S.-mediated talks with Ukraine after Nov. 10, which would be the first since February, four years after Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine.Trump’s Intervention in Years-Long WarRussian forces control about 19 percent of Ukraine—an area roughly the size of the state of Pennsylvania—which includes Crimea and parts of the Donbas that Russia had seized before the full-scale invasion on Feb. 24, 2022, according to a Nov. 4 war report card from Russia Matters, a project by Harvard Kennedy School’s Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs.Earlier this week, Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko said that Trump’s interventions are helping to keep the Russia–Ukraine conflict from descending into global war.Lukashenko, an ally of Putin, said during his address at the Fourth Minsk International Conference on Eurasian Security on Nov. 3 that “Trump is essentially keeping the world, for now, from World War III, which could erupt as a nuclear conflict.”During his 2024 presidential campaign, Trump had promised to end the war in Ukraine. The president had also often said that if he had been elected for a second consecutive term in 2020, Russia would not have invaded Ukraine in the first place.