Putin Agrees to Include Europe in Ukraine Peace Talks
Vladimir Putin agreed to include European representatives in Ukraine peace talks following meetings with US envoys, even as both nations launched extensive overnight missile and drone attacks.
Russian President Vladimir Putin agreed to include European representatives in the next round of peace talks regarding the conflict in Ukraine. The decision followed meetings in the Kremlin between Putin and US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner. While the inclusion of Europe is viewed as a breakthrough, Putin warned that deploying Western troops to Ukraine after a peace deal would be seen as a security threat. Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov later tempered this development, stating that Moscow has not yet fully agreed to include European mediators pending a determination of their intentions.
Diplomatic progress remains uneven. While trilateral talks in Abu Dhabi resulted in an agreement for a major prisoner-of-war exchange, negotiators reached no consensus on ending the war due to disputes over territorial control in the Donbas region and European security guarantees. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky expressed concern over US restrictions on Starshield satellite communications, which he claims hinder the ability to down Russian drones, and questioned the US approach of discussing a new European security order with Russia.
Despite these diplomatic efforts, hostilities escalated on November 13, 2026. Russia and Ukraine launched extensive overnight attacks; Russia reported intercepting 1,198 Ukrainian drones across 15 regions, including strikes in Volgograd that killed four people. In response, Russian forces attacked the port city of Odesa, killing at least two people, and struck a civilian hospital in Kyiv.
