By Billy Stockwell, Kara Fox, CNN
(CNN) — US envoys Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff arrived in Ireland late on Thursday to brief Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on their earlier Moscow talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
The trips follow two days of talks in Abu Dhabi between Russian, Ukrainian and American negotiators – the first of their kind since February – which ended without a breakthrough.
Zelensky told reporters in Dublin after the meeting that the talks over the past days had been very important.
“It gives (us) hope that we will end this war, that after this meeting will be another meeting and each meeting has to give a result and bring us closer to this,” he said.
Speaking alongside Witkoff and Kushner on Thursday night, Zelensky also said a recently agreed prisoner of war exchange would be the biggest yet, calling the swap “a real result.”
Kushner added that some “really incredible” post-war security plans for Ukraine were being worked on.
Earlier, just before the US envoys departed Moscow, Witkoff had told CNN’s Frederik Pleitgen at Vnukovo Airport: “I think progress was made. I think it was made earlier today. People didn’t think that we were going to restart trilateral. We’ve restarted it. We’ve set a new meeting.”
“This is what President Trump wants to see,” he added.
Witkoff also appeared to say that European representatives would join the next talks about the Ukraine conflict. “They’re our partners, and it’s important for them to be involved,” he told reporters.
Kushner later echoed this, saying after the meeting with Zelenksy that “we cannot conclude this deal without the Europeans being at the table.”
Earlier however, Russian President Vladimir Putin’s foreign policy aide Yuri Ushakov — while confirming that trilateral talks involving Russia, Ukraine and the US would continue — appeared to play down the suggestion that European representatives would join them.
“They are making every effort to get involved in the negotiations, but, as our president has said, they need to decide whether they want peace or a continuation of the war. So far, all their practical actions point precisely to the latter,” Ushakov said.
The diplomacy comes as Zelensky warns of reoccurring disruptions to Starshield – a military-grade version of Elon Musk’s Starlink service that is critical to Ukraine’s military operations. He said Thursday the service had faced “significant disruptions” in recent days, hampering Kyiv’s ability to shoot down Russian drones.
Zelensky said Kyiv was “trying to establish all the circumstances with the American side.”
At the meeting with Putin on Thursday, Witkoff expressed his desire for European nations to join the next round of talks.
“The Europeans have a desire for this war to really be the end and for there to be a long peace after,” Kushner, US President Donald Trump’s son-in-law, and who acts as one of the country’s top diplomats despite holding no official role within the Trump administration, added.
In response, Putin said Russia had “never objected (to) pursuing dialogue” with Europe. “You want this peace to be a durable and lasting one, and I confirm that I subscribe to that, and I’d say more. I want this peace to be eternal, for good,” the Russian leader said.
Asked if Russia was suspicious of Europe’s intentions, Russian presidential special envoy Kirill Dmitriev told CNN Thursday: “I think working on European security is definitely a great, important step for Europe. And frankly, people who care about Europeans and their lives, of course, want European security to be strong.”
While Ukraine has long argued that Europe should be at the main negotiating table, Moscow has so far appeared to resist such efforts.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov criticized the presence of European officials in the UAE city earlier this week, saying their involvement was not a “promising approach.”
When asked if there had been any contact between the Russians and any EU representatives in Abu Dhabi, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said Wednesday, “No such contacts were planned, and none took place.”
Meanwhile, Ushakov said Putin and Trump will “continue discussions” about Ukraine during a planned bilateral meeting at the APEC summit in China.
“It was noted that President Donald Trump is personally focused on resolving this issue,” Ushakov said, referring to Ukraine. “Naturally, during the planned meeting with him at the APEC summit in Shenzhen, the discussion of the full range of issues related to the settlement will continue.”
The move could further escalate Europe’s concerns of being excluded from negotiations shaping its own security.
Before the meeting with the US envoys, Zelensky joined other world leaders in Dublin earlier on Thursday for the European Political Community summit, where the recent trilateral talks in Abu Dhabi were discussed, as well as additional sanctions on Russia.
Despite the flurry of diplomacy, the latest push for peace has not afforded Ukraine respite from the daily barrage of Russian attacks.
Moscow launched a ballistic missile and drone attack on Ukraine overnight into Thursday, according to the Ukrainian Air Force. In Kyiv, at least one person was killed, and several others injured amid a Russian drone attack Thursday morning, local authorities said.
Speaking about the latest Starshield disruptions, Zelensky said Thursday: “These are not random errors but systematic speed restrictions. For us, this primarily means a significant complication in intercepting Russian jet-powered drones.”
“Unfortunately, this is helping the Russians kill more Ukrainians and carry out more accurate strikes against Ukraine,” he posted on X.
CNN has reached out to the White House and the Pentagon. SpaceX, the company which owns Starshield, told CNN that there had been no change in its service.
In October too, Ukraine said speed limits were imposed on Starshield satellite terminals, as the relationship between Kyiv and Washington deteriorated. Trump denied approving that decision, while Musk said the Trump administration was behind the restrictions.
This story has been updated with additional developments.
The-CNN-Wire
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CNN’s Svitlana Vlasova, Katharina Krebs and Anna Chernova contributed reporting.
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