Putin warns war would resume if Europe sends troops

Russian President Vladimir Putin warned on Thursday, Nov. 12, that the war in Ukraine would “resume immediately” if European countries deployed troops there to enforce a future peace deal, even as U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff said Europe will join the next round of talks, according to ynet and news agencies.

The exchange puts the central dispute over Europe’s role in ending the war in plain view: Washington wants European governments at the table, while Moscow rejects the idea of a European force. Putin repeated that “for us, there is only one ceasefire line: the state border,” and again demanded that Ukraine withdraw from Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson, ynet reported.

Witkoff and Jared Kushner, U.S. President Donald Trump’s envoys, met Putin at the Kremlin for about two hours on Thursday and then held late-night talks in Dublin with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, ynet reported. Kushner told Putin, on camera, that he had detected a “big shift” among European leaders. Witkoff said: “The Europeans will join the next meeting.” Moscow has not formally confirmed that, ynet said.

France 24 headlined its Nov. 13 coverage that Zelenskyy and Kushner had confirmed Europe will join the next round of Russia-Ukraine talks, and that France is among five major powers set to represent the European Union. It also reported that Europe and Russia were sparring over Europe’s involvement. Canada News Media could not read the full text of those France 24 reports, so details beyond those headlines are not reported here.

The talks so far have been narrower. The Abu Dhabi round that began on Nov. 10 was the first direct Russia-Ukraine meeting in nine months, ynet reported, and ended without a major breakthrough, though the sides agreed in principle to another prisoner exchange. Canada News Media reported the opening of those talks on Nov. 10, and the EU’s plan to send a joint team on Nov. 9.

Putin also proposed a temporary humanitarian ceasefire around Kostiantynivka, where ynet said 400 to 500 civilians are trapped. Ukrainian adviser Dmytro Lytvyn said Ukraine believes Russia would use such a pause to rotate and reinforce its forces, according to the same report. Zelenskyy called the new U.S. approach “a little strange” and said Ukraine would not surrender occupied territory for peace, ynet reported.

The Europe question predates this week. The Kyiv Post reported on Nov. 8, citing the Washington Post, that Kushner proposed multilateral talks between European countries and Russia on a post-war security architecture, modelled on the NATO-Russia Council, which was established in 2002 and had its practical operations suspended in 2014. European governments and Ukraine’s leadership say such talks must follow a verified ceasefire and an enforceable peace agreement, the Kyiv Post reported. Zelenskyy told CNN’s Jake Tapper that discussing a European-Russian security infrastructure “is not simple, and it can be dangerous.”

Battlefield and diplomatic claims in this story come from the parties named and could not be independently verified by Canada News Media.

For Canada, the dispute bears directly on commitments in Europe. Canada leads a NATO multinational battle group in Latvia, and Prime Minister Mark Carney was in Dublin this week, where he pressed EU leaders to ratify CETA. Any European force in Ukraine would draw on allies that include Canada’s NATO partners, though no Canadian deployment to Ukraine has been announced in the reports reviewed here. The EU is also preparing a 22nd sanctions package against Russia.

What happens next depends on Moscow: no date or venue for the next round with European participation had been confirmed in the reports reviewed, and the Kremlin has not accepted a European seat. Via ynet and France 24.

Via ynet and France 24.

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