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Russia’s chief negotiator at Ukraine peace talks in Abu Dhabi Vladimir Medinsky said after their conclusion that mutual understanding had been achieved on some issues and that more talks would be held.
Medinsky, in remarks broadcast on Russian state television, said that Russia and Ukraine had agreed on a large-scale prisoner swap, the latest in a long line of such exchanges.
He was cool however on the prospect of European countries joining the talks and said it was unclear what there was for Russia and the European Union to discuss, given what he said was a lack of proposals from the European side, Reuters reported.
Key events
16m ago
G7 looks to address Ukraine's 'pressing financing needs'
1h ago
School bomb alerts pose no real danger, Italy's Meloni says
1h ago
Russians want more progress before Putin-Zelenskyy meeting, Kushner says
1h ago
US pushing for Europe to be involved in Ukraine war talks with Russia, Kushner says
1h ago
US negotiators to meet Putin in Moscow, Zelenskyy in Dublin next
1h ago
Russia, Ukraine agree on large-scale prisoner swap as some progress made in Abu Dhabi, Russian negotiators say
2h ago
Ukraine's Zelenskyy about to address the Danish parliament
3h ago
There are few illussions that an immediate breakthrough is possible - snap analysis
3h ago
Russia arrests two 'agents' of Polish intelligence in Kaliningrad
3h ago
No plans for Russia-EU talks on sidelines of main Abu Dhabi talks, Kremlin says
3h ago
Ukraine wants Russia to stop war before discussing broader security issues
4h ago
Second day of talks on Ukraine get under way
4h ago
Morning opening: Zelenskyy ‘happy’ with US envoys’ approach during Russia talks as day two to begin
The G7 top diplomats stressed the need to secure long-term financial aid for Ukraine, as Kyiv’s allies sought ways to cover its budget beyond 2026, AFP reported.
“We acknowledged the need to address Ukraine’s pressing financing needs for 2027 and beyond in a coordinated way,” said a joint statement issued by foreign ministers of Canada, Germany, France, Italy, Japan, the UK and United States, following a meeting held Monday and Tuesday in Paris.
“We reiterated that negotiations on the future security in Europe must include the Europeans,” it added, as US-mediated talks between Russia and Ukraine took place in Abu Dhabi.
Meanwhile, just a quick update on Italy: the country’s prime minister Giorgia Meloni said the email bomb alerts sent to school (11:36) pose no danger, but police and other public bodies were monitoring the situation.
“These reports appear to be part of a strategy intended to cause alarm and concern – a matter that is currently under thorough investigation,” she said.
Meloni will chair a meeting on the situation later today to assess what may need to be done after “hundreds” of schools saw their plans for today disrupted by the alarm.
A large number of schools in Northern Ireland were also sent a threatening email, the Northern Ireland Education Authority said, via Reuters, but have been advised to stay open as the authority said police did not regard it as a credible threat.
Kushner also said he thought “it would be great” for Zelenskyy and Putin to meet in person to hold further talks, but acknowledged “the Russians have said they would like to see more progress made before that happens.”
“Clearly, there’s not great trust or love between the leaders, so I think that if we can find a pathway to arrange…I will say this, … these deals do take time.”
Kushner also acknowledged that there is “no trust between the sides and that’s to be expected after a conflict like this,” but he hoped he could make progress on that.
He said it is important to have Europe at the table for any discussions on Ukraine and postwar security as “it’s a discussion where they have to be involved,” and pointedly praised his engagement with top Europeans so far.
He said he hoped Putin would “give his blessing” to expanding the format during their meeting in Moscow.
Speaking after today’s talks, US negotiator (and Donald Trump’s son-in-law) Jared Kushner described the discussions as “very substantive,” even if “pretty tough … after almost eight months of not being together.”
He said he and peace envoy Steve Witkoff would meet Putin in Moscow on Thursday to “go over what was discussed today and try to make progress on some of the issues that we discussed.”
Afterwards, they will fly to Dublin to meet with Ukraine’s Zelenskyy “to debrief with him and further explore some of the ideas that we came up with today,” he said.
Zelenskyy will be in Dublin at the European Political Community summit, alongside other EU leaders.
Kushner said he also hoped to “finalise the humanitarian relief” and “the biggest humanitarian release of prisoners” during tomorrow’s meeting with Putin.
He said the US was also working to “try and see if we can get the Europeans added to the format so that we can make this a multilateral format,” praising already existing discussions with European partners, including the EU, Nato, France, Germany, Italy, and the UK.
Kushner said the key issues revolve around “postwar security” and “security guarantees,” as well as “deconfliction” and monitoring any future ceasefire.
But he acknowledged that “the territorial issues … will be the hardest.”
Meanwhile, David Arakhamia, a close ally of president Volodymyr Zelenskyy and the head of his faction in parliament, said he hoped to keep up “good momentum” in the talks with a view of reaching a solution by the end of the year.
Russia’s chief negotiator at Ukraine peace talks in Abu Dhabi Vladimir Medinsky said after their conclusion that mutual understanding had been achieved on some issues and that more talks would be held.
Medinsky, in remarks broadcast on Russian state television, said that Russia and Ukraine had agreed on a large-scale prisoner swap, the latest in a long line of such exchanges.
He was cool however on the prospect of European countries joining the talks and said it was unclear what there was for Russia and the European Union to discuss, given what he said was a lack of proposals from the European side, Reuters reported.
Jakub Krupa
Meanwhile, we are getting some lines from those present at the Abu Dhabi talks participating in the Ukrainian, Russian, and US delegations.
Let me bring you some quotes.
Zelenskyy also turns to Russia’s demands for security guarantees.
He points out that is not obvious given “no one has attacked Russia for many decades,” and yet “since the second world war, Russia has not gone through even one decade without starting a war or using military force against another country.”
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Extracted and lightly reformatted for readability. · Source: pt