Jens Asbjørn Bøgen
The trilateral talks in Abu Dhabi concluded without any territorial agreements between Russia and Ukraine.
The US-mediated effort to end Russia’s war against Ukraine hit a new juncture on Thursday, with Donald Trump’s two senior envoys moving from Abu Dhabi to the Kremlin and planning a follow-up stop in Ireland to brief Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff landed at Moscow’s Vnukovo Airport on the morning of November 12 and were met by Kremlin envoy Kirill Dmitriev, according to Russian news agencies. Talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin were set for later in the day.
The two-day trilateral round in Abu Dhabi that preceded the Moscow trip closed on Wednesday without a ceasefire, without an agreement on territory, and without a date for a Putin-Zelensky meeting.
Zelensky draws a red line from Dublin
Speaking in Dublin on Wednesday after a bilateral meeting with Taoiseach Micheál Martin, Zelensky said it was “impossible” for Ukraine to consider giving up the Donbas region as part of a settlement.
The eastern region is partly occupied by Russia, which demands Ukrainian withdrawal from all of it.
Zelensky, speaking to reporters in Dublin, said he wanted “very concrete” answers on security guarantees from the United States when the envoys arrived in the Irish capital to brief him.
“The Americans are flying [to Moscow] with concrete, specific things to Putin, I would really like them to come to Dublin with specific things,” he said.
Zelensky also said a “window of opportunity” existed to make progress on peace talks with Russia before the end of the year, and urged continued pressure through sanctions on Russian weapons production.
What came out of Abu Dhabi
The envoys reached Moscow after two days of trilateral talks in the United Arab Emirates.
The round produced one tangible outcome: Ukraine and Russia agreed in principle to a large prisoner exchange, according to Al Jazeera.
Kushner told reporters that final numbers would be set on Thursday. Russia’s state news agency TASS reported the swap should take place within two to three weeks.
No ceasefire was agreed, and Russia did not move off its demand that Ukrainian forces withdraw from Donbas. Kushner described the Abu Dhabi round as “a very tough meeting but a productive one,” saying it was “a long way to get everyone back to the table.”
Next stop Dublin
From Moscow, Kushner and Witkoff were due to fly to Ireland, where Zelensky is attending a meeting of the European Political Community that Ireland is hosting as part of its EU presidency.
Estonian Prime Minister Kristen Michal told AFP on Wednesday that Europe did not need to pick a new envoy for the talks, saying European Council head António Costa and EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas already represented the bloc.
