Kushner and Witkoff head to Moscow before Dublin talks with Zelensky

Envoys land in Moscow

Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff arrived in Moscow on Thursday, 12 November, to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin. They were received at Vnukovo airport by Kirill Dmitriev, the Russian president's special representative, according to images obtained by France-Presse. Russian television reported that the delegation left the airport at 05:00 Lisbon time. After the Kremlin meeting, the two envoys are due to fly to Dublin, where they are set to meet Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky later the same day. Their trip follows two days of trilateral talks in Abu Dhabi.

Prisoner exchange agreed in Abu Dhabi

Russia and Ukraine resumed direct talks in the United Arab Emirates on Tuesday, 10 November, with US mediation, after nearly nine months without negotiating. The meetings ended with an agreement on a prisoner exchange. Russia's chief negotiator Vladimir Medinsky described it as a broad exchange of prisoners, while Jared Kushner called it the largest humanitarian release of prisoners. The details have not been disclosed. Zelensky said in Dublin that he was waiting for more information from the US team but expected Moscow to agree to the humanitarian release of up to 1,200 prisoners. Some reports speculated the exchange could exceed a thousand soldiers on each side, but the final number is still to be announced.

Zelensky sets conditions in Dublin

Speaking in Dublin alongside Irish Prime Minister Micheál Martin on Wednesday, 11 November, Zelensky said the United States would have to return with concrete proposals after its contacts with the Kremlin, while doubting that Putin would be willing to make progress. He ruled out negotiating a Russian military withdrawal from Donbass, the eastern region that Russia partly occupies, and said the outcome would depend largely on whether Washington pressed Putin. He called for positive signals from the United States and said he was still waiting for responses from both Moscow and Washington on security guarantees that would prevent a new Russian attack. Even so, he considered it positive that talks had not stalled. Martin said Ukraine's future lay within the European Union and that Ireland would provide full logistical support for the European Political Community meeting in Dublin on Thursday.

Europe pushes for a seat at the table

NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, speaking during a visit to Norway on Wednesday, said the United States, Ukraine and Europe were fully aligned and united after the Abu Dhabi talks. He added that it still had to be seen whether the Russian side was willing to cooperate. Rutte spoke at the Atlantic Future Forum, held aboard the British aircraft carrier Prince of Wales, where UK Defence Minister Wes Streeting and Norwegian Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide also took part. The same day Zelensky told the Danish parliament that Europe had to be at the table when the United States and Russia talk. He ended a two-day visit to Denmark with that speech, after meeting Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen and dining with Nordic leaders. He also pressed the Freja anti-ballistic system project, hoping it could be tested for the first time this winter, and secured a Danish commitment to manufacture its radars.

Caution on the timeline

Kushner, speaking at a press conference on Wednesday, cautioned that the agreements require time and are difficult. He recalled that the Abraham Accords took three and a half years to conclude. Thursday's meetings in Moscow and Dublin are the next step in the process, and the prisoner figures are expected to be announced soon. Zelensky, for his part, hopes for results this year and next, a view he expressed in Dublin.