Putin to meet Witkoff and Kushner in Moscow after Abu Dhabi: what is on the table

Kushner said the envoys would review the Abu Dhabi talks with Putin, work to finalise the humanitarian arrangements and the prisoner exchanges, and push to bring European countries into the negotiations, which Moscow has so far resisted. After Moscow, the two are to fly to Dublin to brief Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who is among European leaders gathering there during Ireland's presidency of the European Union. Zelensky followed the second day of the talks by video link from Copenhagen and called it constructive and quite substantive.

Their previous visit to Moscow, in September, produced no announced breakthrough. Ushakov called that meeting substantive, constructive and candid, without giving details of anything agreed.

The prisoner exchange and the open gaps

The one concrete result from Abu Dhabi was an agreement in principle to a large exchange of prisoners. Kushner announced it on 11 November and said the final numbers would be settled on Thursday. Rustem Umerov for Ukraine and Vladimir Medinsky for Russia confirmed that it is planned. The only figures given so far are Ukrainian: Zelensky said on Tuesday that negotiators had discussed 1,000 prisoners from each side, possibly rising to 1,500 each.

Ukraine's position is that an immediate ceasefire should come first and that decisions on territory must be taken by leaders. Zelensky has said the first step has to be ending the war and providing security guarantees for Ukraine. Medinsky said Russia had held no talks with European representatives and questioned their role, saying Moscow had received no concrete proposals from Europe, though it would consider them if they came. Umerov said Kyiv would hold further talks with European partners.

The history of exchanges shows both what is easy and what is not. Russia and Ukraine agreed a swap of 1,000 prisoners each in Istanbul in May 2025, and a smaller exchange of 157 each after the February round in Abu Dhabi, yet neither led to a ceasefire. Arakhamia, who sits on Ukraine's delegation, said the Abu Dhabi talks were among the most difficult, that the Russian side seemed to have strict instructions from Moscow, and that the United States had focused the discussion on the post-war future. He hoped for a solution before the new year. Secretary of State Marco Rubio called the meeting very productive but said a breakthrough to stop the war will take time.

The signals to read next

The first thing to look for is the Kremlin's account, normally given by Ushakov after such meetings, and the American account that will follow. The questions it should answer are whether Putin accepted the prisoner exchange on the scale discussed, whether he said anything about security guarantees or a meeting of leaders, and whether he moved on the Donbas demand.

The second is what the envoys carry to Dublin. Kushner has said he would like a meeting between Zelensky and Putin to happen, calling it something that would be great. Whether that is possible depends on what Putin says on territory, which has been the main obstacle in each round this year. The September Moscow visit and the earlier rounds this year produced limited results.

The fighting has not paused. Russia struck Zaporizhzhia and Kharkiv overnight, wounding seven civilians, and said it shot down 627 Ukrainian drones. Until the exchange numbers are set and the envoys report back, the prisoner swap is the only result on the table, and whether it leads to anything wider is still open.