US now focused on ‘facilitating direct engagement’ between Russia, Europe, Kushner says after Ukraine peace talks

The United States is now focused on “facilitating direct engagement” between Russia and Washington’s European partners and preparing the agenda for the next round of Ukraine peace talks, US envoy Jared Kushner said on November 14.

Kushner and envoy Steve Witkoff met separately with President Volodymyr Zelensky and Russian President Vladimir Putin after two days of U.S.-brokered talks between Ukrainian and Russian delegations in Abu Dhabi ended without a breakthrough on a broader ceasefire or peace deal.

“Our goal now is to facilitate direct engagement between Moscow and our European partners and prepare the agenda for the next round of trilateral negotiations,” Kushner said in a message published on the social network X.

NATO will remain an “essential pillar” of European security and “credible” security guarantees for Ukraine, he added.

“Several new ideas emerged from these discussions and are currently being explored. Some could lead directly to breakthroughs, while others could evolve into new proposals that would help close remaining gaps,” Kushner said.

On November 13, Zelensky told reporters that a new US proposal under discussion would see Ukraine join NATO in exchange for withdrawal from territories it still controls.

“The Americans asked the question: ‘What if Ukraine joined NATO?’ Would Ukraine withdraw from Donbas? This was the first time this question was raised,” Zelensky said.

The Donbass region in eastern Ukraine includes the Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts, which were partially occupied by Russia in 2014 and which Russian forces have failed to fully capture.