US envoy Jared Kushner at a briefing after US-mediated talks between Russia and Ukraine in Abu Dhabi (AP photo)
“One of the positives is we agreed that we’re going to have the biggest humanitarian release of prisoners, which we’re going to finalise the numbers tomorrow,” Jared Kushner, US President Donald Trump’s son-in-law, said after the talks concluded. They would then fly to Dublin to meet Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy . The diplomatic push comes at a time when the Trump administration faces a changing political landscape. Democrats are set to take control of the US Congress in January following the midterm elections, potentially increasing pressure on Washington to provide greater support to Ukraine.
Kushner said he and US envoy Steve Witkoff would travel to Moscow on Thursday to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin .
Russia’s Defence Ministry claimed that its air defence systems shot down 627 Ukrainian drones overnight, including 150 over the region surrounding St Petersburg.
He said the talks focused largely on humanitarian matters, including prisoner exchanges, the return of Ukrainian civilians held captive by Russia and children taken from Ukraine. Regional Governor Alexander Drozdenko said the drone attacks sparked a fire at the port of Ust-Luga, one of Russia’s major oil export facilities. Three workers were injured.
Umerov said Ukraine’s delegation was also expected to meet European officials on Wednesday.