US Envoys Take Ukraine Peace Proposals To Putin. Zelenskyy Is Waiting For Answers In Dublin.

President Donald Trump's envoys arrived in Moscow on Thursday for talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin, carrying proposals from two days of negotiations with Ukraine and Russia that produced an agreement in principle on a major prisoner exchange but little progress toward ending the war.

Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner are expected to brief Putin on the discussions in Abu Dhabi before traveling to Dublin to meet Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Washington is seeking to narrow differences over territory, security guarantees and Europe's role in a potential settlement.

The American delegation was received at Moscow's Vnukovo Airport by Kirill Dmitriev, Putin's special representative, who accompanied the envoys to the Russian capital, according to Reuters.

The visit follows the first direct U.S.-mediated negotiations between Russian and Ukrainian officials in nine months. The two-day meeting in the United Arab Emirates ended Wednesday with both sides agreeing in principle to exchange prisoners of war, although the number of prisoners involved has not been finalized.

Kushner described the proposed exchange as potentially the largest humanitarian prisoner release of the conflict, but acknowledged that significant differences remained on other issues.

During a meeting with Lithuanian President Gitanas Nausėda in Dublin on Wednesday, Zelenskyy welcomed the agreement and said Ukraine expected a large exchange. However, he cautioned that broader negotiations still required substantial work.

The biggest disagreement concerns Ukrainian territory, with Moscow continuing to demand that Kyiv withdraw its forces from the parts of the eastern Donbas region still under Ukrainian control. Ukraine has rejected surrendering territory that Russian troops have not captured.

Russia currently occupies roughly one-fifth of Ukrainian territory, including Crimea, which Moscow annexed in 2014. Its full-scale invasion of Ukraine began in February 2022.

Security guarantees are another major obstacle. Kyiv wants assurances against another Russian invasion, while Moscow opposes Ukrainian membership in NATO and has objected to proposals involving Western troops operating in Ukraine.

American negotiators have also been discussing postwar reconstruction and possible security arrangements. Kushner said the Abu Dhabi talks had identified potential areas of compromise, but no agreement was reached on the central territorial and security questions.

European participation has emerged as another point of disagreement, with Washington seeking a broader role for European governments in discussions about Ukraine's future.

European representatives attended separate consultations with Ukrainian and American officials in Abu Dhabi but were not part of the trilateral meetings involving Russia.

Kushner has argued that European countries, the European Union and NATO should be involved in shaping the wider security arrangements. Russian officials, however, have questioned their participation in the negotiations.

Vladimir Medinsky, who led Moscow's delegation in Abu Dhabi, said the Russian team had not held discussions with European representatives. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has not ruled out European involvement at a later stage, although Moscow has not agreed to expand the current negotiating format.

A senior Russian diplomat also raised the possibility Wednesday of negotiating nonaggression agreements with NATO member states as part of a broader European security arrangement, according to Reuters.

Zelenskyy has continued to press for European involvement, arguing that any settlement must address the security concerns of countries beyond Ukraine.

During his visit to Dublin, the Ukrainian president met Taoiseach Micheál Martin and discussed military cooperation, sanctions and damage to Ukraine's energy infrastructure.

In a statement published by the Ukrainian presidency, Zelenskyy said European participation was essential because the consequences of the war extended beyond Ukraine.

The Ukrainian presidency also confirmed that Zelenskyy expected to meet Witkoff and Kushner in Dublin on Thursday after their discussions with Putin.

The renewed diplomatic efforts have not halted fighting. Russia and Ukraine exchanged drone and missile attacks overnight, with explosions reported in Kyiv and Russian authorities saying several drones heading toward Moscow had been intercepted.

Moscow's Defense Ministry said Russian forces struck Ukrainian military and energy facilities, while Ukrainian officials reported damage to civilian and energy infrastructure in the Rivne region. The claims concerning individual military targets could not be independently verified.

Neither Moscow nor Washington had announced an agreement on a ceasefire, territorial concessions or postwar security guarantees as the American delegation arrived for Thursday's talks.