Negotiators from the U.S., Ukraine, and Russia huddled in Abu Dhabi for day two of the trilateral talks on ways to end the war, and officials hinted that tough talks are ahead on some of the biggest sticking points.
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talks → huddle → points
They were some pretty tough discussions after, I think, almost eight months of not being together,” Kushner told reporters afterward.
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Kushner → think → reporters
We covered all the relevant issues.”
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We → cover → issues
One breakthrough that came from the meeting was a proposal to have one of the largest releases of prisoners of war — with the exact figure set to be finalized during the meeting with Putin in Moscow on Thursday.
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figure → come → Thursday
The two diplomatic gurus are also expected to press Putin on converting the trilateral talks into multilateral ones and bring European negotiators into the fold.
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gurus → expect → fold
Russia’s delegation boss Vladimir Medinsky later confirmed the plan.
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boss → confirm → plan
“We’ve relayed to President Putin directly several times and to his team that the only way to get this done is to have them by our side,” Kushner explained.
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Kushner → relay → side
“I think that they’re receptive to it.”
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they → think → it
“Hopefully tomorrow in Moscow, Steve and I will be successful, and President Putin will give the blessing for that to occur.
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that → give → blessing
Following their meeting with Putin, Kushner and Witkoff are expected to trek over to Dublin to meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
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Kushner → follow → Zelensky
During the talks on Wednesday, the negotiators made progress on discussions about security guarantees for Ukraine and how to establish a de-escalation mechanism after the war wraps up.
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war → make → mechanism
“This was one of the toughest ones,” Ukrainian negotiator Davyd Arakhamia said of the meeting.
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Arakhamia → say → meeting
“I think the Russians came with very, very strict directives.
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Russians → think → directives
And it was very hard to actually soften the discussion.”
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it → soften → discussion
Ukrainian negotiators described how their Russian counterparts seemed to have almost no wiggle room on some of the toughest sticking points of the peace talks.
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counterparts → describe → talks
Arakhamia was hopeful that Kushner and Witkoff could get Putin to have the Russians loosen up their posture at the negotiating table.
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Russians → get → table
“No issues weren’t discussed,” Kushner said.
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Kushner → discuss → ?
“The territorial issues, which will be the hardest, but we do believe that, as we discuss these other issues, we’ll find a pathway to settle them all.”
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we → believe → them
Russia is estimated to have about 80% to 85% of that territory, but has been unable to capture the remainder of it by force.
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Russia → estimate → force
Ukrainian officials fear that if they cede the Donetsk fortress belt, they will have given up their best line of defense and make themselves vulnerable if Russia violates any future agreements and tries to take even more land by force.
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Russia → fear → force
Ukraine’s Zelensky called the day-one talks on Tuesday “constructive and quite substantive.”
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Zelensky → call → Tuesday
This is the first trilateral since the failed February effort in Geneva.
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This → fail → Geneva
Amid the talks, Russia has been pummeling Ukrainian energy infrastructure in an apparent effort to beat Ukraine into submission during an expected bruising winter.
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Russia → pummel → winter
“I think that every pre-winter time Russia tries to put the maximum pressure because winter [is] like where we are the most vulnerable,” Arakhamia acknowledged.
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Arakhamia → think → pressure
“This year we are more vulnerable because of the lack of interceptors,” he added.
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he → add → interceptors
“Ukraine knows and learn[ed] … how to sustain the winter.”
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Ukraine → know → winter
The Aporia
