Witkoff says he hopes the Abu Dhabi talks moved peace closer

US special envoy Steve Witkoff has arrived in Moscow and says he hopes the trilateral negotiations in Abu Dhabi brought peace closer. He and Jared Kushner are due to meet Vladimir Putin on Thursday.

US special envoy Steve Witkoff has arrived in Moscow. He says he hopes the Abu Dhabi talks have moved peace closer.

Witkoff and Kushner reach central Moscow

Earlier, Kirill Dmitriev, head of the Russian Direct Investment Fund, arrived at a hotel in central Moscow. Witkoff and Jared Kushner came with him. Kushner is the son in law of the US president. The hotel stands close to the Kremlin. The group came ahead of a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Kremlin aide Yury Ushakov said the meeting would take place in the first half of the day.

Witkoff responds to reporters on the Abu Dhabi talks

Journalists asked whether the negotiations in the UAE capital had brought a peace settlement closer. “I hope so,” Witkoff answered.

Two days of trilateral talks end in the UAE

On Wednesday, two days of negotiations wrapped up in Abu Dhabi. Delegations from Russia, the United States and Ukraine took part. Kushner said earlier that he would fly to Moscow on Thursday with Witkoff. They plan to discuss the results of the talks. They also want to present several proposals. The American side had already talked these over with Kyiv and the Europeans. Ushakov confirmed that Putin would meet the two envoys on Thursday morning.

European security architecture takes center stage

Presidential aide Vladimir Medinsky led the Russian delegation in Abu Dhabi. He said the main topic of the talks was the architecture of European security.

Russia and Ukraine agree on a new prisoner exchange

Medinsky also said both sides agreed on a new large scale prisoner exchange between Russia and Ukraine. Officials will announce the exact details soon.

EU representatives attend but stay apart

Representatives of several EU countries were present in Abu Dhabi. Medinsky explained that the Russian delegation did not speak with them. The Abu Dhabi talks stayed strictly trilateral.