Russian and Ukrainian negotiators reported some progress after two days of peace talks in Abu Dhabi, agreeing to a prisoner-of-war exchange. US mediators said trust was lacking and major differences, including over territory, remained.
The first peace talks between Russia and Ukraine in nine months ended Wednesday in Abu Dhabi with an agreement on a major release of prisoners of war, but few other concrete announcements. US envoy Jared Kushner said some areas offered room for compromise, while territorial issues would be the hardest to resolve.
Ukraine has rejected Russian President Vladimir Putin’s demand that it surrender the whole of the eastern Donbas region. Russian chief negotiator Vladimir Medinsky said a deal was closer but that much depended on Ukraine, the US stance and Europe. Ukrainian negotiator David Arakhamia described the talks as tough but said they provided good momentum.
Kushner and fellow US envoy Steve Witkoff were set to travel to Moscow on Thursday for talks with Putin, including a discussion of bringing European partners into negotiations. Russia and Ukraine also accused each other of overnight attacks; Ukrainian officials reported strikes on six large electricity substations and a market attack in the Odesa region that killed three people.
