U.S. envoys meet Putin after Abu Dhabi Ukraine talks
Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner met Vladimir Putin before briefing Volodymyr Zelenskyy, as a prisoner swap advanced but core disputes remained.
By James Whitfield · Staff Writer
2 min read
U.S. envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner met Russian President Vladimir Putin in the Kremlin after two days of Ukraine talks in Abu Dhabi, then traveled to Dublin to brief Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. The U.S. envoys meet Putin Ukraine talks sequence kept negotiations moving, but it produced no announced ceasefire or broader peace agreement.
The Abu Dhabi meetings were the first direct U.S.-mediated negotiations between Russian and Ukrainian delegations in nine months, Reuters reported. They ended with an agreement in principle for a prisoner exchange, though accounts did not establish a final number of people to be swapped.
What did the Abu Dhabi Ukraine talks achieve?
The prisoner exchange was the clearest outcome. The parties remained divided on territory and on security arrangements after the war, according to Reuters and Al Jazeera.
Kushner and Witkoff went directly from the United Arab Emirates to Moscow, where their meeting with Putin lasted about two hours, NPR reported. Kushner described the discussion afterward as substantive and detailed, according to Deutsche Welle.
Will Europeans join the next round of talks?
Witkoff said European representatives would participate in the next meeting, calling them important U.S. partners. Zelenskyy welcomed that prospect and said he hoped future discussions would address de-escalation and possible ceasefires, Reuters reported.
The format has not been settled publicly. Kremlin foreign-policy aide Yuri Ushakov did not explicitly confirm that Russia would negotiate with a European delegation, Reuters and The Washington Post reported. Moscow has previously objected to direct European involvement, arguing that European governments support Ukraine militarily.
What remains unresolved?
Putin again rejected any postwar deployment of European troops in Ukraine, saying Russia would see them as a threat and treat them as legitimate military targets, according to NPR and Reuters. That position conflicts with proposals for European involvement in Ukraine's security after any settlement.
Territory remains another central dispute. Russia holds about one-fifth of Ukraine and seeks claims Kyiv rejects, Reuters reported. No evidence from the meetings indicated that the sides had bridged those differences.
Putin also proposed a joint Russian-Ukrainian humanitarian mission around Kostiantynivka in eastern Ukraine. He said Russia controlled the city, but Ukraine has disputed that assertion and said the details would need clarification, Reuters and the BBC reported.
The talks therefore established further diplomatic contacts and a possible wider negotiating group, while the main terms of any settlement remained unsettled.
This story draws on original reporting from NPR.