Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, representatives of the United States in the trilateral negotiations with Ukraine and Russia, are scheduled to travel this Thursday to Moscow to hold a meeting with the Russian president, Vladimir Putin. Afterwards, they will travel to Ireland to meet with the Ukrainian leader, Volodimir Zelenski, and continue moving forward on contacts aimed at ending the war, resumed this Tuesday and Wednesday in the United Arab Emirates.
At the end of the second day of talks, Kushner explained that the conversations were “substantial,” with “quite intense debates.” “Many very serious issues are being addressed. However, the conversations were very exhaustive. We covered all the relevant questions and we were able to maintain a good exchange of ideas,” he said.
In this context, he has highlighted that, as a result and a “good first step,” the delegations have reached an understanding for “the largest humanitarian release of prisoners,” although he specified that the exact figures will be defined after meetings with Putin and Zelenski.
Kushner has confirmed that he will travel with Witkoff this Thursday to Moscow to meet with Putin “in order to review what was discussed today and try to move further forward on some of the issues that we have addressed.” “We see some avenues for dialogue and opportunities in that regard,” he said.
After that, the two U.S. envoys will travel to Dublin, the Irish capital, where they will hold a meeting with the Ukrainian president on the sidelines of the summit of the European Political Community, which brings together leaders from across the continent. The goal with Zelenski is “to present and further deepen some of the ideas that came out here today,” he said.
Likewise, one of the matters that is intended to be addressed will be “to bring the Europeans into the format,” Kushner said, underscoring that the intention is “to turn it into a multilateral format.”
Security guarantees and territorial issues
Trump’s son-in-law has confirmed that in the conversations aspects related to security were also discussed once the conflict ends. “How to ensure that once this war ends it will not start again. This is very important for Ukraine,” he said, admitting that Kyiv “needs to establish its security guarantees,” and pointing out that “quite significant advances” were made in this area.
"We analyze how to avoid clashes, how to monitor the ceasefire, and how to ensure that the appropriate agreements and understandings exist to achieve a significant de-escalation after the war," he has said.
Kushner has stressed that the territorial issue was also addressed, which he has already described as the most delicate point in the process. "As we go on to deal with these other issues, we will find a way to resolve them all at the same time," he said.
Along these lines, he has advanced that the security arrangements for the post-conflict stage will not be implemented "until there is an agreement on the territory and on all the other bilateral issues."
These are the first talks in nine months focused on "parameters for humanitarian measures" with a view to a possible truce and a future peace agreement between Kyiv and Moscow.
Even the Emirates have seen delegations from the European Union and NATO move as well, which maintain parallel contacts with the Ukrainian side to coordinate positions and work on aspects related to the security of the European continent.