President Donald Trump’s envoys arrived at the Kremlin on Thursday (November 12, 2026) for talks with President Vladimir Putin, as Washington sought to generate new momentum in peace efforts after two days of U.S.-mediated negotiations between the Russian and Ukrainian delegations. U.S.
Mr. Putin is to get the Russian leader’s blessing for European representatives to be part of the talks, which are looking at the continent’s broader security arrangements. The U.S. and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy are looking for Europe to appoint a single person to negotiate with Moscow. After meeting with Mr. Putin, Mr.
Witkoff will fly to Dublin, Ireland, to meet later on Thursday (November 12, 2026) with Mr. Zelenskyy, who is attending a meeting of more than 40 European countries that also includes NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte.
Kushner said that one of the goals of the meeting with Mr. Kushner said that he and Mr.
Zelenskyy said in Dublin late Wednesday (November 11, 2026). “So today there really is this opportunity, this window of opportunity, when all those involved in the negotiating process genuinely want to achieve a result before 2027. Russia’s Defense Ministry said that air defences downed 71 Ukrainian drones overnight.
Mr.
Zelenskyy said that political changes, including Democrats taking over the U.S. Congress in January following the U.S. midterm elections and votes in France next year, could bring “a window of opportunity” for a peace deal. “The political landscape in Europe could change in 2027… we also see changes already taking place in the United States,” Mr. The Ministry said that Russian forces struck a drone-making plant in Kyiv and three other facilities producing missile fuel and drone components in the area around the Ukrainian capital. It said that other strikes hit power substations in Zhytomyr and a bulk carrier heading to the Black Sea port of Odesa with cargo for the Ukrainian armed forces.
