US Envoys Meet Putin After Abu Dhabi Ukraine Talks

U.S. envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner met Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow on Thursday after two days of U.S.-mediated talks between Russian and Ukrainian delegations in Abu Dhabi. The Kremlin called the meeting useful, while Kushner described it as substantive and detailed. The discussions produced no reported breakthrough on ending the war, though the Abu Dhabi delegations agreed in principle to a major prisoner exchange.

The exchange’s final number had not been announced in the reporting, and its completion was not confirmed. Kushner said the figure was still to be determined. A separate estimate that the exchange could involve as many as 1,500 prisoners on each side was attributed to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and was not presented as a finalized total.

The Moscow meeting followed the first direct Russia-Ukraine talks in nine months, held under U.S. auspices. Negotiators reported some progress in Abu Dhabi, but U.S. officials said significant differences remained, particularly over territory and postwar security arrangements. Kyiv has rejected Russian demands that it give up territory in the Donbas as part of a settlement.