Jared Kushner said Saturday that the United States is now working to arrange direct talks between Moscow and European governments and to set an agenda for the next round of U.S.-Ukraine-Russia meetings^1,2,3.

The comment followed separate meetings this week by Kushner and fellow U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, after two days of U.S.-brokered talks in Abu Dhabi that produced plans for a prisoner exchange but no ceasefire or broader peace deal^1,2,3.

In a post on X, Kushner said several new ideas from those discussions are being examined and that some might become proposals to close remaining gaps^1,2. He also said a lasting settlement would need security guarantees for Kyiv and that NATO would remain a central part of European security, with Europe brought into the talks^1,2.

Al Jazeera reported that Kushner told reporters both sides know compromises will be required³. European leaders agreed Friday to send representatives of the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy and Poland to future peace talks, Al Jazeera said, naming the five countries that have indicated they could contribute troops to a postwar force³.

The Kremlin has indicated it is open to talking with Europe while criticizing what it called a lack of proposals from the bloc, Al Jazeera reported³. French President Emmanuel Macron wrote Saturday that Europe should state clearly what it wants after the war, including to Russia, and that Ukraine belongs in NATO, according to that account³.

Zelenskyy, in remarks released Saturday, said the United States had raised a possible new security framework for Europe and that he viewed that as dangerous if it became the main agenda¹. He said Washington asked for the first time whether Ukraine would pull back from parts of the Donbas region it still holds if Kyiv were admitted to NATO, and he repeated that Ukraine would not give up territory^1,2.

He also said Ukraine would not write neutrality into its constitution¹. Zelenskyy argued that Moscow wants a wider revision of European security, including possible pressure over Finland, Sweden, Hungary and U.S. forces in the Baltic states, and that the order of work should be a ceasefire, an end to the war, then guarantees for Ukraine¹.

CBS News reported that President Donald Trump is due to meet Putin next week in a three-way session with Chinese leader Xi Jinping and that officials said the Ukraine war is not expected to be discussed there¹. Fighting continues while talks proceed; Al Jazeera cited November leaks from Russian official statistics putting Russian military deaths at at least 450,000³.