Peace negotiations in Ukraine war: Trump's representatives in Moscow to meet Putin

While diplomatic contacts to end the Russia-Ukraine war continue, US President Donald Trump's representatives Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff reached Moscow to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

According to Reuters, Putin's special representative Kirill Dmitriyev welcomed the two representatives, who came to the Russian capital on Thursday, at the airport.

It is expected that the conditions of a possible peace agreement in Ukraine will be discussed during the meeting between Kushner and Witkoff with Putin in the Kremlin.

The meeting will be the tenth face-to-face contact between Witkoff and Putin.

The visit of US representatives to Moscow came after two days of tripartite peace talks in Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates.

The talks, which brought together the Russian and Ukrainian delegations under the mediation of the USA, were the first direct negotiations between the parties in nine months.

Although Russian and Ukrainian negotiators have announced progress on some issues, no concrete agreement has yet been reached on the fundamental disagreements regarding ending the war.

The most important result of the talks was an agreement in principle on a comprehensive prisoner of war exchange.

However, no definitive statement has yet been made regarding the number of captives to be exchanged and the implementation schedule.

THE BIGGEST OBSTACLE TO PEACE: DONBAS

The main disagreement in the negotiations is over the future of Ukrainian lands.

Russian President Vladimir Putin demands that the entire Donbas region in eastern Ukraine be left under Russian control among the conditions of the peace agreement.

The Kyiv administration flatly rejects this request.

Although US President Trump continued his optimistic statements regarding the peace negotiations, there was no significant change in the parties' attitudes on the land issue.

After the talks had difficulty progressing due to the territorial dispute, US mediators began to focus on topics such as post-war security guarantees and the reconstruction of Ukraine.

NON-AGGRESSION TREATY MESSAGE FROM RUSSIA TO NATO

The Moscow administration wants the talks to end the Ukrainian war to be discussed together with the future security architecture of Europe.

A senior Russian diplomat said on Wednesday that Russia could sign mutual non-aggression agreements with NATO member countries as part of the creation of a new security order in Europe.

However, many European politicians are opposed to negotiating Europe's overall security order without a ceasefire in Ukraine and concrete progress in peace talks.

This difference of opinion shows that there are significant disagreements between the parties not only on ending the war, but also on the future security structure of Europe.

EYES ON THE MEETING WITH PUTIN

Following the progress made on the prisoner exchange in Abu Dhabi, all eyes turned to the contacts in Moscow.

Kushner and Witkoff's meeting with Putin is expected to discuss territorial disputes, security guarantees that can be provided to Ukraine and the role of European countries in the negotiation process.

Despite the diplomatic initiatives of the United States, no agreement has yet been reached between Russia and Ukraine on the conditions of a comprehensive peace agreement.