Zelenskyy’s Brussels talks in doubt as U.S. shifts plans

Ukraine’s presidency said Oct. 26 it cannot confirm President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s planned trip to Brussels this week for talks with the United States, the European Union and NATO, because Washington has changed its plans.

The meeting, which Zelenskyy said on Sunday would take place on Oct. 27 or 28, was meant to turn U.S. contacts with Moscow into talks on security guarantees for Ukraine and a wider role for the EU. Its fate matters because a new round of Ukrainian, U.S. and Russian negotiations is pencilled in for the first half of November, and the Brussels session was to prepare Europe’s position for it.

Dmytro Lytvyn, Zelenskyy’s communications adviser, told journalists on Monday: “We are not confirming this yet due to a change in the American side’s plans,” European Pravda reported. Some outlets described the trip as cancelled. The wording from Kyiv is that it is not confirmed, and neither Kyiv nor Washington has said the meeting will not happen.

The European Commission gave little away. “At this stage, we have no further information to share,” a spokesperson said, according to Euronews, adding that the Commission remains engaged in diplomacy. A NATO official told European Pravda the alliance would comment if it received any information.

Euronews reported that Zelenskyy had said the Americans wanted to discuss security guarantees and the EU’s broader role, and that “they want a meeting in Brussels this week.” The proposed session was to include NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte. It would have followed talks in Oslo the previous week, where Zelenskyy met U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff, according to Euronews. Those talks came after Witkoff met Russian President Vladimir Putin in St. Petersburg, which we reported on Oct. 22.

The timetable for the next negotiating round is still moving. Zelenskyy said on Oct. 23 that he had contacted Trump’s envoys about a trilateral meeting at negotiating-team level in the first half of November, European Pravda reported. A day later, U.S. government sources said the venue could be Abu Dhabi or Switzerland. On Oct. 25, Yuri Ushakov, an aide to Putin, said Russia is ready to resume trilateral talks after Nov. 4. None of the dates or venues is confirmed. Brussels has also pressed for a seat at the table, as we reported on Oct. 23, while the Kremlin has described the format as trilateral.

Fighting and diplomacy have run side by side. A local humanitarian pause in occupied Oleshky, announced by the White House, was the subject of our Oct. 23 report, and a UN inquiry said this week that Russian strikes on the power grid amount to crimes against humanity. Battlefield and casualty claims from either side cannot be independently verified from here.

For Canada, the timing is close. Prime Minister Mark Carney and EU leaders are due to meet in Montreal at a Canada-EU summit later this week. Canada is home to roughly 1.3 million people of Ukrainian origin, according to the 2021 census, and any change in the shape of peace talks is closely watched in those communities.

What happens next depends on Washington’s revised schedule, which has not been made public.

Via Euronews and European Pravda (Eurointegration).

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