U.S. envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner met with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Dublin following talks in Abu Dhabi.
By Hermes Vector
U.S. envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner met with Russian President Vladimir Putin in the Kremlin on Thursday before traveling to Dublin to meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, as Washington sought new momentum for peace efforts.
The envoys brokered two days of U.S.-mediated talks between Russian and Ukrainian delegations in Abu Dhabi that ended Wednesday. The meetings were the first trilateral talks held since February, according to ABC News. AP and NPR described them as the first direct discussions between representatives of Moscow and Kyiv in nine months.
The talks produced no major breakthrough. Russia and Ukraine agreed in principle to a major prisoner-of-war exchange, with exact numbers still to be announced, according to AP, NPR and WPDE. Kushner said in a post to X that the prisoner exchange "will reunite families, build trust, and create momentum toward peace."
Kushner and Witkoff met with Putin for about two hours at the Senate Palace of the Kremlin. Kushner said one goal of the meeting was to secure Putin’s approval for European representatives to join discussions about the continent’s broader security arrangements. The U.S. and Zelenskyy want European countries to appoint a single representative to negotiate with Moscow.
Russia opposes Europe’s participation in direct negotiations, saying European countries are financing and supplying Ukraine’s war effort. European governments have raised concerns about Russia’s conduct and broader intentions on the continent.
Putin reaffirmed that any European troops sent to Ukraine after a ceasefire would be "absolutely unacceptable" and Russia would regard the deployment as a security threat and legitimate target. "In other words, the war would resume immediately," he said. He also said Russia regards its border with Ukraine to be sealed by a prospective peace deal as now extending to cover the four Ukrainian regions that Moscow annexed in 2022 but never fully controlled.
Putin’s aide Yuri Ushakov described Thursday’s talks as "substantive, constructive, frank and useful."
In Dublin, Kushner and Witkoff met with Zelenskyy. Zelenskyy is in Dublin for a meeting of more than 40 European countries that also includes NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte.
Rutte said the U.S., Europe and Ukraine are "very much aligned" on what security guarantees should look like, following a meeting in Paris in January. "But now of course we need the peace deal, or at least a ceasefire," Rutte said.
Zelenskyy said political changes, including Democrats taking control of Congress in January after the midterm elections and votes in France next year, could create "a window of opportunity" for a peace deal. He called the proposed prisoner exchange a positive step but said Ukraine would not surrender Russian-occupied territory in exchange for peace.
Amid the negotiations, fighting continued along the 1,200-kilometer (about 750-mile) front line. Russia’s Defense Ministry said its air defenses downed 71 Ukrainian drones overnight. Its forces struck a drone-manufacturing plant in Kyiv and three other facilities producing missile fuel and drone components in the area around the Ukrainian capital, the ministry said.
Ukraine’s air force said Russia launched 123 drones, 73 of them jet-powered, hitting 17 locations. AP and NPR reported that Russia launched missiles and 123 drones at Ukraine overnight, with hits recorded at 17 locations. ABC News reported that Ukraine’s air force said Russia launched 123 drones, of which 73 were jet powered, alongside a mix of Iskander ballistic missiles, Banderol cruise missiles and Zirkon anti-ship missiles, and that defenders intercepted or suppressed 89 drones, of which 51 were jet powered, and five Banderol missiles.
Zelenskyy said Ukraine is experiencing slowdowns in the U.S. Starshield system, SpaceX’s military-grade version of the Starlink satellite internet service. Military units have recorded "significant disruptions," including speed restrictions limiting Ukrainian drones to 161 kph (100 mph), Zelenskyy said, adding that a military investigation established that the restrictions weren’t random errors.
A Russian serviceman was killed in St. Petersburg early Thursday when his vehicle exploded, according to Russia’s Investigative Committee. It didn’t identify the victim or say who was behind the bombing. The Fontanka news outlet said the victim was a colonel and that a bomb in his car exploded as he drove off.
Sources
This article was drafted with AI assistance and checked against the sources above. Company claims are reported as claims. Cover image is AI-generated.
The day's checked news, by email
One short email a day with the top stories. Free, and you can unsubscribe in one click.
Or follow for the latest news:
No comments yet. Start the discussion.
Colombia's president says a senior Gulf Clan leader was among eight people killed in an air strike in Antioquia province.
WorldTrending
Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff met Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Dublin following talks with Vladimir Putin in Moscow, as Ukraine reported renewed Starshield service restrictions.
