Envoys arrive in Moscow for Putin talks as Ukraine warns of fresh Starshield disruptions

Envoys meet Putin in Moscow

Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff arrived in Moscow for talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin. The visit is part of the latest US effort to advance a peace deal in Ukraine.

The meeting followed two days of trilateral discussions in the United Arab Emirates, which ended Wednesday in Abu Dhabi. Participants announced another planned major prisoner exchange but made no breakthrough on ending the nearly five-year war.

Donbas and the proposed plan

Kyiv has firmly rejected Putin’s demand that Ukraine surrender all of Donbas in exchange for peace. Al Jazeera correspondent Yulia Shapovalova said the US team would seek to persuade Putin to bring Europeans into the negotiation process.

Shapovalova said the delegation would present an updated peace proposal. Dmitriev’s presence, she added, indicated that the talks would cover some of the more complex issues.

European leaders gather in Dublin

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney and NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte also attended. Zelenskyy and European allies were expected to discuss the Abu Dhabi talks.

Doubts and sanctions

Audrey Macalpine, reporting from Kyiv, said Ukrainians were not convinced the Moscow talks would produce results. She said, “Over the past two days, we saw just another prisoner exchange, which has been the case in previous talks.” On Thursday, French Minister Delegate for European Affairs Benjamin Haddad said the European Union would approve more sanctions against Russia.