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U.S. President Donald Trump's envoys arrived in Moscow on Thursday for talks with President Vladimir Putin about the results of U.S.-mediated negotiations between Russian and Ukrainian delegations.
Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, who is also Trump's son-in-law, attended the two days of negotiations in Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates. The talks wrapped up Wednesday with an agreement on a large exchange of prisoners, but no visible breakthrough on ending the nearly five-year hostilities.
After meeting with Putin, Kushner said that he and Witkoff will fly to Dublin, Ireland, to meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
Zelenskyy gave a muted welcome to the outcome of the talks, saying that the proposed prisoner exchange was a positive step. At the same time, he insisted that Ukraine won't 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. From time to time, Russia and Ukraine have swapped prisoners, but have remained far apart in their demands for accepting a peace settlement.
