In brief: President Volodymyr Zelensky arrived in Dublin on Wednesday, Nov. 11, for the ninth European Political Community (EPC) summit and met Prime Minister Micheál Martin at Government Buildings. He said he has bilateral and multilateral meetings planned with about 20 leaders, along with a meeting on diplomacy with US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner. The envoys are planning to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow on Thursday, Nov. 12, before making their way to Ireland for a meeting with Zelensky.
President Volodymyr Zelensky arrived in Dublin on Wednesday, Nov. 11, for the ninth European Political Community (EPC) summit, where he is expected to meet US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner after their talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow.
According to Irish outlet The Journal, Zelensky’s plane landed at the Baldonnel military air base shortly before 4:15 p.m. local time (6:15 p.m. Kyiv time).
JOIN US ON TELEGRAM
Follow our coverage of the war on the @Kyivpost_official.
At around 5:40 p.m. local time, he reached Government Buildings, where he held a bilateral meeting with Ireland’s Prime Minister Micheál Martin ahead of a joint press conference.
Zelensky separately announced his arrival in a statement on Telegram, noting that he and his team have both bilateral and multilateral meetings scheduled with roughly 20 leaders in total.
He will also pariticipate in Thursday’s opening plenary session, alongside European Council President António Costa.
“Today there really is this opportunity, this window of opportunity, when all those participants who are now engaged in the negotiation process, genuinely want to achieve a result before 2027,” Zelensky said according to AFP.
The visit is taking place under tight security, with major traffic restrictions in central Dublin and more than 300 garda motorcyclists and security escorts deployed to accompany leaders arriving at Baldonnel and Dublin Airport, according to The Journal.
Armenia Boycotts Russia’s CSTO Alliance as Putin Hosts Moscow Summit
Envoys to visit Putin first
US special envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner are expected to travel to Moscow on Thursday, Nov. 12, where they will meet with Putin to review the Abu Dhabi talks and seek further progress, before traveling to Dublin to meet Zelensky.
Ukraine says the next round depends on exactly those meetings.
Davyd Arakhamia, head of the Servant of the People party and a member of Ukraine’s delegation, said a date should be set only after the envoys’ Moscow trip and their follow-up meeting with Zelensky, adding that Kyiv sees enough momentum to reach a settlement before the New Year.
The Nov. 10-11 talks in Abu Dhabi concluded only hours before Zelensky arrived in Dublin, marking the first trilateral talks since February.
On the first day, the delegations focused on future security arrangements and guarantees for Europe, Ukraine and Russia, as well as another major prisoner of war (POW) exchange.
However, while Ukraine’s chief negotiator, Rustem Umerov, spoke of “huge progress” on security and prosperity arrangements, Kremlin aide Vladimir Medinsky was more guarded, saying the sides had found common ground on some points but not on others.
Territory remains the hardest issue, Kushner said earlier, noting that no postwar security arrangement can take effect until it is resolved.
The Kremlin, for its part, left little room for compromise on the issue, with Medinsky telling Russian state television’s news service Vesti that Russia considers any land its troops have reached to be its own and sees no possibility of territorial exchange.
Europe, meanwhile, remained sidelined during the talks, although Washington wants it included in future rounds.
Britain, France, Germany, Italy, NATO and the European Commission held separate meetings with the Ukrainian and US teams but never directly joined the negotiations with Russia.
Kyiv Post is Ukraine’s first and oldest English news organization, reporting since 1995. Its international reach – 90% of readers are outside of Ukraine – make it truly Ukraine’s global voice.