The key facts

  • Kushner and Witkoff are traveling to Moscow for talks with Putin on Thursday
  • The parties agreed on the 'largest humanitarian prisoner release,' with numbers to be clarified
  • After Moscow, the envoys will head to Dublin for a meeting with Zelensky

Moscow Visit and Negotiation Plan

US presidential advisor Jared Kushner told journalists on Wednesday that he and Steve Witkoff will arrive in Moscow on Thursday for talks with Russian leader Vladimir Putin. The visit follows two days of US-mediated trilateral negotiations involving Russian and Ukrainian delegations, held in Abu Dhabi — the first direct trilateral meetings on a peaceful settlement since the discussions in Geneva in February.

'Largest Humanitarian Prisoner Release'

According to Kushner, one of the positive outcomes of the talks was an agreement on the 'largest humanitarian prisoner release,' with the specific numbers to be agreed upon the next day — that is, during the Moscow visit. The presidential advisor explained that the purpose of the trip to Moscow is to review the outcomes of the Abu Dhabi discussions: 'we see some opportunities and prospects there.'

Expanding the Format and Meeting with Zelensky

Kushner named one of the main goals of the mission to Russia as expanding the negotiation framework: Washington intends to secure the participation of European countries in order to build a sustainable multilateral peace format. After Moscow, the envoys will travel to Dublin, where they will brief Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on the progress of the discussions and continue working on the ideas raised during the negotiations.