MOSCOW — U.S. envoys Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff met with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow on Thursday, seeking momentum after two days of U.S.-mediated talks between Russian and Ukrainian delegations ended with an agreement for a large-scale prisoner swap but no major breakthrough on ending the war. The talks in Abu Dhabi were the first direct negotiations between the sides in nine months. Kushner and Witkoff are scheduled to fly to Dublin to brief Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Friday. Steve Witkoff told reporters after the Kremlin meeting that progress was made. "People didn't think that we were going to restart trilateral. We've restarted it," Witkoff said.
Kushner said one goal of the meeting with Putin was to get the Russian leader's blessing for European representatives to join future talks on broader European security arrangements. The U.S. and Zelenskyy want Europe to appoint a single negotiator. Putin reaffirmed Moscow's rejection of any European troop presence in Ukraine after a ceasefire, calling it "absolutely unacceptable" and warning such troops would be seen as a security threat and legitimate targets. "In other words, the war would resume immediately," Putin told the envoys, according to a report.
Putin also stated Russia sees its border with Ukraine as the line of control, a reference to Moscow's claim over four Ukrainian regions it annexed in 2022 but never fully captured. Kremlin aide Vladimir Medinsky had previously expressed skepticism over European involvement in the negotiations. Meanwhile, leaders from more than 40 European countries gathered in Dublin for a summit of the European Political Community. NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte said the U.S., Europe and Ukraine are "very much aligned" on security guarantees, but added, "now of course we need the peace deal, or at least a ceasefire."
Zelenskyy called the proposed prisoner exchange a positive step but insisted Ukraine will not surrender Russian-occupied territory. He suggested political changes, including the Democrats taking over the U.S. Congress and elections in France, could create a "window of opportunity" for a peace deal by 2027. The exact number of prisoners to be swapped has not been announced. Al Jazeera's correspondent in Kyiv, Audrey MacAlpine, said Ukrainians did not believe the Moscow talks would yield results, noting that past negotiations have also resulted mainly in prisoner exchanges.
As diplomacy continued, fighting raged along the front line. Ukraine's air force said Russia launched missiles and 123 drones overnight, with hits recorded at 17 locations. A woman was killed and five people were injured when a drone hit a residential block in Kyiv, Mayor Vitali Klitschko said. Russia's defence ministry said its air defences downed 71 Ukrainian drones and its forces struck a drone-making plant in Kyiv and three other facilities producing missile fuel and drone components around the capital. Separately, a Russian military serviceman was killed when his car exploded in St. Petersburg, according to Russia's Investigative Committee.
In Dublin, Zelenskyy raised concerns about new speed restrictions on the Starshield satellite internet system, the military-grade version of SpaceX's Starlink service used by Ukrainian forces. He said military units recorded "significant disruptions," including speed limits capping drones at 161 kph, and that an investigation found the restrictions were not random errors. "This is helping the Russians kill more Ukrainians and carry out more accurate strikes against Ukraine," Zelenskyy said. He added that Kyiv is trying to clarify the circumstances with U.S. officials. "If someone in America is making decisions that basically treat Ukrainian territory as if it is not Ukrainian, then this tells us where things are going," he said.
SpaceX CEO Elon Musk previously acknowledged his company throttled the Starlink service in Ukraine, saying it could not be used for offensive strikes against Russia. Musk has said Starshield systems are owned and controlled by the U.S. government, and any limits are decided by the U.S. military and the president. A senior U.S. official told Time magazine that no request to limit the service ever came from President Donald Trump. Ukrainian presidential adviser Serhiy Beskrestnov said Starlink does not work over Russian territory, so Ukraine cannot use the commercial service for deep strikes.