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Moscow pressures Zelensky to give in over Donetsk as talks continue in Abu Dhabi
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Ukraine and Russia have agreed to exchange 314 prisoners, US envoy Steve Witkoff said as he hailed “detailed and productive” outcomes from the second day of talks.
“Today, delegations from the United States, Ukraine, and Russia agreed to exchange 314 prisoners—the first such exchange in five months,” he wrote on X.
“This outcome was achieved from peace talks that have been detailed and productive.”
Officials from both Moscow and Kyiv have been locked into the second day of talks in Abu Dhabi since Thursday morning, after both sides said the first day of talks were constructive and made positive progress.
The talks came just hours after Ukraine accused Russia of launching a “massive” attack on railway infrastructure on Ukraine’s Sumy region.
The railway’s energy infrastructure was also targeted and a train driver was injured by shrapnel wounds, deputy prime minister Oleksiy Kuleba said on Telegram.
“The enemy is trying to stop train traffic,” Mr Kuleba said, describing the attack as “another act of terrorism” against one of the foundations of Ukrainian stability”.
Meanwhile, Volodymyr Zelensky earlier said that around 55,000 Ukrainian troops had been killed over four years of war.
Starlink internet terminals used by Russian troops in Ukraine have been deactivated by Ukraine, Kyiv’s defence minister said on Thursday.
Defence minister Mykhailo Fedorov said on that Ukraine would continue to compile a list of verified terminals that are authorized for operations.
The first batch on that list was already operational, he said.
Negotiators from Moscow and Kyiv on Thursday held a second day of U.S.-brokered talks in Abu Dhabi on ending their war amid an escalation in Russia’s winter attacks on Ukraine’s power grid and after a sharp rise last year in Ukrainian civilians killed in the fighting.
“We are working in the same formats as yesterday: trilateral consultations, group work, and further synchronization of positions,” said Rustem Umerov, Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council chief, who was present at the meeting.
The delegations from Moscow and Kyiv were joined in the capital of the United Arab Emirates by U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff and U.S. President Donald Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, according to Umerov. They were also at last month’s talks in the same place as the Trump administration tries to steer the two countries toward a settlement.
Read our full report below:
Moscow has reportedly confirmed the prisoner of war swap announced earlier by US envoy Steve Witkoff.
Russia and Ukraine have exchanged 157 prisoners of war each, Russian state news agency RIA Novosti reported on Thursday, citing the defence ministry.
Three civilians from the Kursk region were returned to Russia as part of the swap, the ministry said.
Russian attacks on Wednesday killed twelve people and injured 29, local authorities said according to a tally by Ukrainian outlet Ukrainska Pravda.
Eight people were killed in the eastern Donetsk region, seven in the town of Druzhkivka in a strike on a market and apartment blocks, and one in Lyman, the governor of Donetsk, Vadym Filashkin, said.
At least 21 people were injured in those attacks.
Four people were killed and five injured in attacks on the southern Kherson region, including on the city of Kherson, and a further three people were injured in then Polohy district of the southeastern Zaporizhzhia region.
Ukrainian, US and Russian delegations have agreed to exchange 314 prisoners, US president Donald Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff announced in a post on X on Thursday.
“Today, delegations from the United States, Ukraine, and Russia agreed to exchange 314 prisoners—the first such exchange in five months,” he said, as the trilateral talks continued for a second day.
“This outcome was achieved from peace talks that have been detailed and productive. While significant work remains, steps like this demonstrate that sustained diplomatic engagement is delivering tangible results and advancing efforts to end the war in Ukraine.
Mr Witkoff added that discussions “will continue, with additional progress anticipated in the coming weeks”.
Ukraine’s military said on Thursday it had carried out a series of “successful” strikes at the infrastructure of a Russian intermediate-range ballistic missile launch site in January.
Ukraine’s general staff said in a statement that some buildings were damaged, one hangar was “significantly” damaged and some personnel was evacuated from the Kapustin Yar test range near the Caspian Sea. It did not provide the dates of the attacks.
The military added it used its long-range capabilities to carry out the strikes, including the Ukrainian-made Flamingo missile.
The Kremlin said on Thursday that it could neither confirm nor deny reports that French president Emmanuel Macron’s top diplomat had visited Moscow this week.
Macron’s most senior diplomat was in Moscow on Tuesday to hold talks with Russian officials, said a French source who was aware of the meeting and two diplomatic sources.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters that French sources were fond of leaking to the media.
On Wednesday, Peskov confirmed that working level talks between Russia and France were under way, after the French leader said he was looking at resuming contact with Vladimir Putin over the war in Ukraine.
Peskov said there was nothing to announce for now when it came to a possible conversation between Putin and Macron.
Russia has warned Ukraine that it will not stop fighting until Kyiv makes what the Kremlin considers the right “decisions” to end the conflict as the first day of peace talks between the parties ended on Wednesday.
Two-day trilateral meetings took place in Abu Dhabi and are set to continue on Thursday as US-brokered negotiations desperately seek to end the nearly four-year conflict.
President Donald Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff and his son-in-law Jared Kushner led the US delegation while Ukraine was represented by Rustem Umerov and Russia by military intelligence chief Igor Kostyukov.
However, despite reports that the discussions were constructive, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said on Wednesday that Russian troops would continue to fight until Kyiv made the right “decisions”.
Read our full report after the first day of talks:
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