US envoys meet Putin at Kremlin after Ukraine talks in Abu Dhabi

US president Donald Trump’s envoys met Russian president Vladimir Putin on Thursday, as Washington sought new momentum in peace efforts after two days of US-mediated negotiations between Russian and Ukrainian delegations.

Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, who is also Trump’s son-in-law, brokered the talks in Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates, the first direct discussions between representatives of Moscow and Kyiv in nine months as the push for peace stalled.

The two days of talks that ended on Wednesday produced no major breakthrough, aside from an agreement to swap a large number of prisoners, with the exact figure still to be announced.

Kushner and Witkoff went straight to the Kremlin to brief Putin on Thursday, and are scheduled to fly later to Dublin for talks with Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy as Moscow’s full-scale invasion nears the five-year mark.

Kushner said that one of the goals of the meeting with Putin was to get the Russian leader’s blessing for European representatives to be part of the talks, which are looking at the Continent’s broader security arrangements.

The US and Zelenskiy want Europe to appoint a single person to negotiate with Moscow.

But Moscow does not want European countries involved in the direct negotiations, complaining they are financing and supplying Ukraine’s war effort.

The Europeans are concerned about Russia’s conduct and broader intentions on the Continent.

Many in Europe see the inclusion of Moscow in discussions about postwar European security as an unwelcome concession to Putin, who has described Nato’s eastward expansion as a main security threat to Russia.

Putin has demanded the transatlantic alliance’s troops be pulled back from Russia’s borders.

Some analysts say negotiators may be looking to grant Russia concessions on Nato’s strategy in return for peace in Ukraine – a possibility that alarms European leaders.

Putin reaffirmed to the US envoys Moscow’s rejection of any European troop presence in Ukraine, saying Russia sees them as a security threat to its security and warns that they would be legitimate targets.

He also said Russia sees its border with Ukraine as the line of control – a reference to Moscow’s claim over the four Ukrainian regions that Moscow annexed in 2022 but never fully captured.

Zelensky is in Dublin for a meeting of more than 40 European countries that also includes Nato secretary general Mark Rutte.

Rutte said the US, Europe and Ukraine are “very much aligned” on what security guarantees should look like, following a meeting in Paris in January.

“But now of course we need the peace deal, or at least a ceasefire,” Rutte said.

Zelenskiy said political changes, including Democrats taking over the US Congress in January following midterm elections and votes in France next year, could bring “a window of opportunity” for a peace deal.

“The political landscape in Europe could change in 2027 ... We also see changes already taking place in the United States,” Zelenskiy said in Dublin late on Wednesday.

He called the proposed prisoner exchange a positive step but also insisted Ukraine will not surrender Russian-occupied territory in return for peace.

Russia and Ukraine have occasionally swapped prisoners, but both sides remain far apart in their terms for accepting a settlement.

Amid the negotiations, fighting continues along the 1,200km front line.

Russia’s bigger army has been held back by dogged Ukrainian resistance while Moscow’s drone and missile strikes aim to deny civilians heat, electricity and running water, sapping public morale in what Kyiv calls a “weaponisation of winter”.

Russia’s defence ministry said its air defences shot down 71 Ukrainian drones overnight.

Its forces struck a drone-making plant in Kyiv and three other facilities producing missile fuel and drone components in the area around the Ukrainian capital, the ministry said.

Russia launched missiles and 123 drones, 73 of them jet-powered drones, at Ukraine overnight, the Ukrainian air force said.

Strikes were recorded at 17 locations, it said. – AP