US envoys reach Moscow for Putin talks as European leaders gather in Dublin
Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff arrived for talks with Russia’s president after negotiations in Abu Dhabi produced plans for a prisoner exchange but no breakthrough on peace.
By Evelyn Adeyemi ·
US envoys Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff arrived in Moscow on Thursday for discussions with Russian President Vladimir Putin on efforts to end the war in Ukraine. Putin’s special envoy, Kirill Dmitriev, greeted them at their aircraft in the morning before travelling with them to central Moscow.
Their visit followed two days of negotiations involving Russia, Ukraine and the United States in Abu Dhabi. Those discussions ended on Wednesday with another major prisoner exchange planned, but without a breakthrough on ending the nearly five-year conflict. They marked the first direct Russian-Ukrainian negotiations under US mediation in nine months.
The United States said the parties remained divided over key questions, including territory, although there had been some progress concerning security guarantees after the war. Ukraine has firmly opposed Putin’s demand that it give up the whole of its eastern Donbas region as a condition for peace.
Reporting from Moscow, Al Jazeera correspondent Yulia Shapovalova said the American delegation would seek to persuade Putin to bring European countries into the negotiations. Ukraine and the United States favour their participation, she said, while Moscow’s opposition has kept Europeans largely outside the process. The envoys would also present an updated peace proposal, with Dmitriev’s involvement indicating that more complex matters would be discussed.
As the diplomatic effort continued, leaders representing more than 40 European countries assembled in Dublin on Thursday for a European Political Community summit centred on security. Participants included leaders from the European Union and other European nations, including the United Kingdom, alongside Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney and NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte.
Established in 2022, the European Political Community provides a forum for countries within and beyond the 27-member EU. Zelenskyy and his European partners are expected to review this week’s Abu Dhabi negotiations. Kushner, who is US President Donald Trump’s son-in-law, and Witkoff are due to meet the Ukrainian president in Dublin on Friday following their discussions with Putin.
Al Jazeera correspondent Audrey Macalpine, reporting from Kyiv, described Ukrainian expectations for the Moscow talks as low. She said the two sides’ negotiating positions had changed little, and that prisoner exchanges had also featured in earlier rounds. In her assessment, the fact that negotiations had happened at all was perhaps their most significant feature.
Separately, French Minister Delegate for European Affairs Benjamin Haddad said on Thursday that the EU would approve further sanctions against Russia on Monday. Speaking to LCI television, he said the measures would cover 150 additional entities and 50 banks, with France having proposed most of the entities for inclusion.
