US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner will meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow today and will then travel to Dublin, where they will hold talks with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. The meetings are the next stage in Washington’s diplomatic efforts to end the war in Ukraine.
The talks with Putin will focus on the results of the two-day negotiations between Russia and Ukraine in Abu Dhabi. According to the Associated Press, the meetings ended without a breakthrough on key issues, but Moscow and Kyiv reached a principled agreement on a large-scale exchange of prisoners of war. The exact number of participants in the exchange is to be determined at a later stage.
“One of the positive things is that we agreed on the largest humanitarian release of prisoners,” Kushner said after the talks in Abu Dhabi.Security remains the main dispute
Unresolved issues include territorial matters, security guarantees after the end of the war and the participation of European countries in a potential agreement. According to Axios, the US side wants Russia to present a proposal for a new security framework in Europe and allow European representatives to take part in the next round of negotiations.
These are precisely the issues that are expected to be raised with Putin. The US envoys will try to clarify whether Moscow is ready to discuss a mechanism that would include Russia, Ukraine and the European countries, as well as what guarantees Kyiv might accept.
Meeting with Zelensky to take place as part of a European forum
After Moscow, Witkoff and Kushner will travel to Dublin for a meeting with Zelensky. Kushner said the two would brief him on the results of the talks in Abu Dhabi and further discuss the ideas considered there.
Dublin is also hosting the ninth meeting of the European Political Community. The leaders of 48 European countries are taking part, with the continent’s security and defence among the main topics. Ukraine is one of the invited countries, giving Zelensky an opportunity to discuss guarantees and future support for Kyiv with both the US envoys and European leaders.
Today’s meetings will not automatically resolve the most difficult disputes between Russia and Ukraine. However, they may show whether US diplomacy has managed to move the talks beyond humanitarian arrangements and towards territory, security and the structure of a potential peace agreement.
Sources: apnews.com, axios.com, rte.ie