Russia is said to have opened the door to European participation in Ukraine peace negotiations after Kiev agreed the process can address Kremlin demands on the continent’s security architecture, according to the EFE news agency.

The Spanish news outlet reported that, speaking Thursday in Moscow to U.S. mediators Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, Russian President Vladimir Putin said: “We would very much like you, the U.S. administration as a whole, to talk with your European partners so that they decide, once and for all, what they want: peace or war in Ukraine?”

According to Kushner’s statement, Putin added that he is willing to work with the Europeans to reach a peace agreement in which Russia is interested only if it reflects its aspirations to reverse, or at least contain, NATO and EU eastward expansion, as was evident in Tuesday’s and Wednesday’s talks in Abu Dhabi.

However, when asked about the matter, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said “as far as the Russian Foreign Ministry is aware, this issue was not discussed during the talks with Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner in Moscow.”

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Witkoff and Kushner treated European presence in the next round of negotiations as assured, saying it could be held next week, and stated that the format with more actors represented is the ideal one for moving toward peace.

Ukrainian President Volodimir Zelenski made the same positive assessment Friday. “It is a real result, it is very important, a success,” he said, setting aside the reservations he had shown.

From teleSUR English via This RSS Feed.