There are "cautious steps forward" in the peace talks on russia's war against Ukraine. "Big negotiations" are expected on November 12 at a meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump's envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner and kremlin head vladimir putin. Finnish President Alexander Stubb, who earlier spoke with putin together with the Prime Minister of Norway, said this in an interview with CNN on November 11, reports UNN.
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"Well, I had the opportunity to discuss this with the American negotiators, namely Jared Kushner, and then with the Ukrainian negotiators, Rustem Umerov and David Arakhamia, and I think we may see some cautious steps forward," Stubb said.
"Let's go back a couple of weeks, when we met with all sides except the Russians in Oslo. I think the talks were on the verge. We managed to start the process, and it was the first time that Russians, Ukrainians, and Americans had met together since last February," he continued.
"So, I think there are subtle steps ahead. One of them was the one Jared Kushner just mentioned, an exchange of prisoners of war. But I think the big negotiations will take place tomorrow (November 12 — ed.) between Kushner, Witkoff, and putin in Moscow, and we will see how we move forward after that," Stubb emphasized.
He also believes that "there is a real possibility that the Europeans will be at the negotiating table, and I think that would be progress in itself." "And if you add to that the fact that a new meeting may take place in one or two weeks between, in this case, the Americans, Ukrainians, Russians, and Europeans at the technical level, that would also be progress. But we will simply have to wait until tomorrow (November 12 — ed.)," the Finnish president noted.
"You know, putin is the one who decides this issue, while on the Ukrainian side it will be decided by Zelenskyy, and the Americans will be speaking with both sides over the next 24 hours," he added.
Additional information
Kushner and Witkoff are to meet with kremlin head vladimir putin on November 12. They then plan to travel to Dublin, where they are to meet with President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
The meetings will take place after the trilateral peace talks in Abu Dhabi on November 10–11.
Following the talks in Abu Dhabi, Ukrainian delegation representative David Arakhamia said that there was "good momentum" to reach an agreement by the New Year. And the head of the Russian delegation, vladimir medinsky, said that the sides had "moved closer to peace."