Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said negotiations to end the war could produce a breakthrough before the end of 2026, as US envoys prepare to meet Russian president Vladimir Putin. Arriving in Ireland, Zelenskyy said the participants involved in the diplomatic process wanted to achieve a result before 2027. He is due to meet Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner after their Moscow visit and said he hoped they would bring concrete proposals back to Dublin.
The diplomatic push follows two days of US-brokered negotiations in Abu Dhabi, the first such talks between Russia and Ukraine since February. Senior delegations from both countries agreed to what was described as the war’s largest prisoner exchange, although progress towards a wider peace settlement remained limited. Kushner and Witkoff led the negotiations.
A senior Ukrainian delegation member said Russia’s representatives had come with strict instructions, but reported substantial progress on security guarantees for Ukraine after the war. The official expressed hope that the momentum could lead to a solution before the new year. Kushner acknowledged the absence of trust between the sides while describing the discussions as a positive initial step.
Speaking alongside Irish prime minister Micheál Martin on Wednesday, Zelenskyy said Ukraine would do everything possible to secure results by the end of the year while continuing to face major attacks. He stressed that much would depend on the American approach to discussions with Moscow. Nato secretary general Mark Rutte said the Abu Dhabi talks demonstrated unity between the US, Ukraine and Europe, and that Russia now needed to show a willingness to cooperate.
Meanwhile, explosions were reportedly heard in Kyiv early on Thursday. In Ukraine’s southern Odesa region, local authorities said a Russian daytime attack on a market killed three people and injured 11. Regional military administration chief Oleh Kiper said residential buildings were also damaged.
In north-western Russia, a drone attack started a fire at the Baltic Sea port of Ust-Luga and injured three workers, regional governor Aleksandr Drozdenko said on Wednesday. Ukraine subsequently claimed responsibility, saying the strike damaged fuel storage infrastructure. Its general staff said preliminary information indicated five tanks had been damaged, with the tank network sustaining the greatest damage. Drozdenko also reported that a power station had been cut off.
Ukraine also said it had captured its first Indonesian prisoner of war, amid what it described as increased Russian recruitment from Indonesia. According to Ukraine’s state-run I Want to Live project, the 49-year-old man from Java had been taken to the Zaporizhzhia region to participate in a Russian assault. After his group came under drone attack, he reached Ukrainian-held territory and was captured.
Separately, the Russian management of the Russian-held Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant said on Wednesday that a Ukrainian drone strike had killed a plant employee at his home in south-eastern Ukraine. Management said he was the 15th employee killed since April.
