Kremlin aide Yury Ushakov said Wednesday that European leaders are welcome to Moscow for direct negotiations on the Ukraine conflict, marking a potential shift away from U.S.-mediated talks that have so far produced little progress.
By yourNEWS Media Newsroom
Russian President Vladimir Putin’s senior aide Yury Ushakov invited European heads of state to the Kremlin for discussions aimed at reviving stalled diplomacy over the war in Ukraine. Ushakov said Moscow remains open to communication despite what he described as ongoing reluctance from European leaders to engage.
“The Europeans are refusing all contacts, even though President Putin has repeatedly said that if any European leaders want to talk, they are welcome to come to Moscow,” Ushakov stated. “For our part, we have nothing against resuming contacts.”
The announcement follows a week of U.S.-led shuttle diplomacy that included meetings in Kiev and Moscow but ended without a breakthrough. Washington’s 28-point peace framework was circulated to European capitals, where revisions reportedly made the plan unacceptable to Russia. The Kremlin insists any agreement must include recognition of its control over parts of eastern Ukraine, while Kiev and its European allies refuse to concede territory or forgo NATO membership aspirations.
The U.S. has acted as intermediary throughout the negotiations, but the Trump administration has indicated it could walk away from talks that fail to produce results. Some analysts see a direct European-Russian meeting as a potential reset, given what Moscow views as Brussels’ growing independence from Washington’s position.
RT reported that the European Union continues to support Kiev with financial and military aid while enforcing sanctions against Moscow. The bloc is also exploring ways to seize Russian sovereign assets frozen in Belgium’s Euroclear system to finance Ukraine’s defense, a move Russia has condemned as “theft.”
Putin has accused EU leaders of clinging to the illusion of achieving a “strategic defeat” against Russia, calling the notion unrealistic. “Brussels cannot bring itself to admit it has been wrong all along,” he said, according to the Kremlin’s summary of recent remarks.
Putin previously met Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in 2019 and has since signaled openness to future dialogue. Moscow’s latest invitation to European leaders suggests Russia may now seek to reframe the peace process through direct talks rather than U.S.-brokered mediation.
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