Ukraine Warupdated 25m ago2 min read
MapSteve Witkoff and Jared Kushner Arrive in Moscow for Putin Ukraine Talks
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US envoys Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff arrived in Moscow to meet Vladimir Putin. Kirill Dmitriev greeted them at the plane and accompanied them to Moscow.
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Moscow meeting after Abu Dhabi
US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner arrived in Moscow on Thursday to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin after two days of trilateral talks in Abu Dhabi that produced no major diplomatic breakthrough. Kirill Dmitriev, the CEO of the Russian Direct Investment Fund, met Kushner and Witkoff on their arrival in Moscow and accompanied them to central Moscow. Kushner said in a post to X that the prisoner exchange "will reunite families, build trust, and create momentum toward peace."
The talks in Abu Dhabi agreed a new prisoner exchange deal and discussed issues including security guarantees for Ukraine and broader European security arrangements, according to readouts from the delegations. The envoys were expected to travel to Dublin, Ireland, later on Thursday to meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, after Zelenskyy arrived in Dublin on Wednesday following a visit to Denmark.
Starshield limits and drone strikes
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. Ukraine’s air force said defenders intercepted or suppressed 89 drones, of which 51 were jet powered, and five Banderol missiles, and it reported impacts in 17 locations. Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said in a post to Telegram that one person was killed and seven others were injured in the capital’s western Solomianskyi district when a drone strike set fire to an apartment block.
Zelenskyy said in a post to Telegram that Ukrainian forces had recorded "significant disruptions" and 100 mile per hour speed restrictions in the operation of the military-grade Starshield satellite network for several days along the entire frontline and in Russian-occupied Ukraine. Zelenskyy added, "This primarily means a significant complication in intercepting Russian jet-powered drones," and he said, "We are trying to establish all the circumstances with the American side."
Europe’s role and next steps
Al Jazeera’s Yulia Shapovalova said one goal of Thursday’s visit would be for the US team to persuade Putin to invite Europeans to the negotiation process. Shapovalova said, "Ukraine and the US want the European partners to be involved while Moscow is adamant about talks without the Europeans, and that’s why they’ve been largely excluded from the process," and she described Dmitriev’s presence as an indication that complex issues would be addressed. BBC reported that Kushner urged Europe to "identify one person to speak on their behalf" in the negotiations, while it said Russians opposed the idea citing Europe’s support for Kyiv as an obstacle.
Kushner said after Wednesday’s talks ended after fewer than two hours that the Moscow meeting’s purpose was to finalize plans for more humanitarian relief and the release of prisoners, and to push to "get Europeans added to the format so we can make this a multilateral format." Russia’s full-scale invasion nears a potential fifth anniversary, and the sources said Moscow and Kyiv remained far apart on key negotiating issues including the fate of Russian-occupied Ukrainian territory and security guarantees from foreign partners to prevent renewed Russian aggression.