US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner arrived at the Kremlin in a motorcade on Thursday for talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin on the Ukraine war.
The pair previously attended the two days of negotiations in Abu Dhabi, the United Arab Emirates, which wrapped up Wednesday with an agreement on a large exchange of prisoners of war but no visible breakthrough on ending the nearly five-year hostilities.
And Russia has continued to sideline Europe in the negotiations, with the Kremlin remaining resentful of European countries’ financial and military support for Ukraine.
After meeting with Putin, Kushner said that he and Witkoff will fly to Dublin, Ireland, to meet Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
The Ukrainian leader gave a muted welcome to the outcome of the talks, saying the proposed prisoner exchange was a positive step.
At the same time, he insisted that Ukraine will not give in to demands that it cede its territory that has been occupied by Russia in exchange for peace.
Hopes had been low for any significant breakthrough in the first meeting in nine months between the delegations.
Russia and Ukraine have from time to time swapped POWs but have remained far apart in their demands for accepting a peace settlement.
US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner arrived at the Kremlin in a motorcade on Thursday
Kirill Dmitriev, Putin’s envoy, greeted Kushner and Witkoff at a Moscow airport on Thursday
Kushner and Witkoff are set to meet with Vladimir Putin later today
Negotiations in Abu Dhabi wrapped up Wednesday, with an agreement on a large exchange of prisoners of war but no visible breakthrough
Along with postwar security guarantees for both countries, other key hurdles are the fate of Russian-occupied Ukrainian territory and what role European countries will play in an eventual settlement.
Moscow doesn’t want European countries, which are concerned about Russia’s conduct and broader intentions on the continent, involved in the direct negotiations.
Kushner said one of the goals of the Moscow meeting is to try to get Europeans added to the talks.
Kushner noted that both Ukraine and Russia needed clarity on postwar security arrangements, and European countries, the EU and NATO have to be involved in those discussions to build consensus on next steps.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Wednesday that European representatives could eventually join peace talks but added their current statements ‘don’t indicate any desire on their part to contribute to movement along the path toward peace.’
Moscow complains that Europe is financing and supplying weaponry to Ukraine.
Ukraine wants to ensure that Moscow doesn’t attack again, and EU officials say any discussions on Europe’s security arrangements could only start after a ceasefire.
Many in Europe see the inclusion of Russia in those plans as a concession to Putin, who has described NATO’s eastward expansion as a top security threat to his country.
Moscow has demanded that the alliance withdraw its troops from Russia’s borders.
Kirill Dmitriev, Putin’s envoy, greeted Kushner and Witkoff at a Moscow airport on Thursday, ahead of their meeting with the Kremlin chief later in the day.
‘Welcoming Steve and Jared to Moscow,’ Dmitriev said on X, posting a picture of himself shaking hands with Witkoff near a plane on a grey wintery morning, Kushner standing alongside.
A Ukrainian firefighter works to put out a fire at a residential building following a Russian aerial attack on Kyiv on November 12
Rescuers and Red Cross volunteers work at the scene of a drone strike on an apartment building
People stand near the site of an apartment building, which was damaged following a Russian drone strike
Meanwhile, Russia and Ukraine exchanged attacks on each other’s capitals early this morning.
The Russian Defence Ministry said on Telegram it had hit military and energy facilities in Ukraine as well as a munitions warehouse in the capital Kyiv.
Explosions were heard in Kyiv in the early hours of Thursday.
Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said that one woman had been reported killed and five people had been injured after a Russian drone struck a nine-storey building in the city’s Solomyanskyi district, setting it ablaze.
The Russian Defence Ministry said in a statement it had hit a rocket factory in Kyiv and a drone assembly workshop and missile fuel factory in the wider Kyiv region, as well as electricity substations in the western Zhytomyr region.
The Russian attacks had also damaged energy and civilian infrastructure in the north-western Rivne region, a local Ukrainian official said on Telegram.
In Moscow, Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said on Telegram that air defence forces had downed five Ukrainian drones heading for the Russian capital overnight.
The Defence Ministry said a total of 71 Ukrainian drones had been brought down across Russia overnight.
