Russia and Ukraine hold first talks in nine months

First talks in nine months

Russia and Ukraine held their first U.S.-mediated talks in nine months on Tuesday in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, on ending the four and a half year old war.

Four hours of negotiations

The session lasted four hours. U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio called the meeting very productive. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the session was constructive and quite substantive.

“very productive”

Who represented each side

Delegations from Moscow and Kyiv met as Washington, represented by President Donald Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner and envoy Steve Witkoff, renewed its push to stop the fighting.

What Ukraine says was discussed

Zelenskyy said the talks were largely about humanitarian issues, including prisoner exchanges and returning Ukrainian civilians in captivity, as well as children taken from the country. Security guarantees also were discussed.

Prisoner swap discussions

A senior Ukrainian official said Ukraine and Russia talked about a large scale prisoner swap, although the details will be discussed in the coming days.

Kushner's optimism

Kushner said he believed there were some good ideas how to bridge the differences between the two sides. He said the goal is to create a new framework building upon past institutions and understandings.

“some good ideas how to bridge”

Russia's demands

Russian President Vladimir Putin wants Ukraine to pull its troops back from four regions of Ukraine that Moscow annexed in September two thousand twenty-two but has never fully captured.

Putin's ceasefire stance

Putin wants a comprehensive peace deal on his conditions and will not agree to a general halt in hostilities, arguing it would only allow Ukrainian troops to rest and replenish their weapons stockpiles.

Ukraine's demands

Zelenskyy rejects Putin's demands to voluntarily cede territory. He also rejects any limits on Ukraine's military or its arrangements with Western partners, which Kyiv sees as essential security guarantees to stop Moscow from invading again.

Ukraine's ceasefire approach

Ukraine argues an immediate ceasefire is the necessary first step toward negotiating a wider settlement.Ukraine says a direct meeting between Putin and Zelenskyy is the only way territorial issues can be settled.

European involvement

The day began with a meeting between the Ukrainian team, the U.S.envoys and representatives from the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, NATO and the European Commission.

Broader security deal in works

Trump declared that some kind of grand deal about European security was in the works, describing it as a big agreement that is going to involve more than Ukraine. Moscow has welcomed that approach.

“a big agreement”

Second day of talks scheduled

Another round of talks is scheduled for Wednesday.Hopes of ending Europe's biggest conflict since World War II are tempered by the absence of any significant breakthroughs in three previous rounds of talks earlier this year.