War in Ukraine: American envoys will meet Putin in Russia, then Zelensky in Ireland

American envoys Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff are due to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday in Moscow, then the same day in Dublin with his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky, after Ukrainian-Russian discussions which ended on Wednesday in Abu Dhabi. Upon his arrival in the Irish capital, Volodymyr Zelensky said there could be a “window of opportunity” to achieve a ceasefire before 2027. “What is important is that the Americans went to Putin with concrete elements. I would very much like them to come back to Dublin with concrete elements,” he added. He said he was skeptical, but “there is hope.”

He also welcomed what he called a “change in tone” from the United States regarding Europe’s participation in the discussions, saying “the American side is approaching it in a more positive, warmer way.” During these two days of direct discussions - the first in more than eight months - the two camps agreed on a new massive exchange of prisoners, while disagreeing on the role that Europe should play in continuing the negotiations. Although few concrete elements emerged from these discussions aimed at finding a solution to more than four years of war, the parties reported progress and affirmed that talks would continue.

“Important divergences”

To continue the dynamic of recent days, Jared Kushner announced that he would meet Thursday in Moscow, with Steve Witkoff, Vladimir Putin in order to “take stock of what was discussed” in Abu Dhabi and “try to make progress”, then in Dublin for a “debrief” with Volodymyr Zelensky. The head of the Ukrainian delegation, Roustem Umerov, noted that “important differences (remain)”. Washington and kyiv considered that the negotiations should be extended, at some point, to the Europeans, kyiv's supporters.

In terms of concrete results, kyiv, Moscow and Washington have announced that a large-scale exchange of prisoners between Ukraine and Russia will take place soon. Jared Kushner assured that this would be the “largest humanitarian release of prisoners” in this conflict, specifying that the number of detainees exchanged would be “finalized” on Thursday. Volodymyr Zelensky said on Tuesday that he wanted “an exchange of 1000 (prisoners) for 1000, or even 1500 for 1500”.

Russia's large-scale invasion of Ukraine, launched in February 2022, has ravaged the country and left hundreds of thousands dead on both sides, becoming the bloodiest conflict in Europe since World War II. Officially, the positions of the two camps remain very far apart. Moscow is demanding in particular the withdrawal of Ukrainian troops from the entire Donetsk region (east), but kyiv refuses to withdraw from this fortified region. Ukraine is demanding security guarantees strong enough to deter Moscow from attacking it again.