US envoys Witkoff and Kushner to meet Putin in Moscow on November 12, then Zelensky in Dublin

In brief

• US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner are set to meet Vladimir Putin in Moscow on the morning of November 12.
• The visit follows trilateral Ukraine–Russia–US talks in Abu Dhabi, where a humanitarian arrangement for a new prisoner exchange was agreed.
• The envoys are then due in Dublin to meet Volodymyr Zelensky, while a Putin–Trump call is not currently planned.

Moscow visit follows Abu Dhabi talks

The Kremlin confirmed that Putin will meet Witkoff and Kushner on the morning of November 12, according to Ushakov, who said the meeting would follow standard protocol (В Кремлі анонсують зустріч Віткоффа і Кушнера з Путіним на 12 листопада – Українська правда) (Віткофф і Кушнер їдуть до Путіна після складних переговорів: що відомо про нову зустріч – TSN). The visit comes right after a two-day trilateral round in Abu Dhabi involving Ukraine, Russia and the United States, which ended on November 11.

Agenda: humanitarian steps and possible wider format

Kushner said the envoys want to review what was discussed in Abu Dhabi and push forward on several points. He named humanitarian issues as the priority, including finalizing aid arrangements and what he called the largest prisoner release to date (Кушнер і Віткофф планують зустрічі з Путіним у Москві та Зеленським у Дубліні – Українська правда) (Зять Трампа оцінив можливість зустрічі Зеленського і Путіна – Європейська правда). He also said the team would test whether European countries could be brought into the process to make it multilateral (Посланці Трампа приїдуть до Путіна, а потім зустрінуться із Зеленським у Дубліні – Європейська правда).

Dublin meeting with Zelensky

After Moscow, Witkoff and Kushner plan to fly to Dublin to meet Zelensky, and the Ukrainian president confirmed that meeting (Зеленский встретится с Уиткоффом и Кушнером после их поездки в Москву – Zerkalo). Zelensky said the sides would align positions after the Moscow talks and identify possible next steps. He described a humanitarian arrangement agreed in Abu Dhabi for preparing a new large-scale prisoner exchange.

Open questions

Ukraine's chief negotiator, Kyrylo Budanov, declined to give details of the talks, including whether Moscow still demands Ukrainian withdrawal from Donbas, and said content would stay non-public until a concrete result is reached. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio called the trilateral talks "very productive" but said much work remained. Kushner said Russia wants to see more progress before any Putin–Zelensky meeting, adding that trust between the leaders is limited and such agreements take time ("Було б чудово": зять Трампа оцінив можливість зустрічі Зеленського і Путіна – Українська правда).

Telephone call not yet planned

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said a Putin–Trump phone call on the Abu Dhabi outcomes is not currently planned.

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