US envoys arrive in Moscow to meet Putin after Abu Dhabi talks

US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner arrived in Moscow on Thursday for a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin. The visit follows two days of US-mediated talks between Russia and Ukraine in Abu Dhabi that ended on Wednesday. Putin's special representative, Kirill Dmitriev, met them at Vnukovo Airport. Dmitriev said: "Welcoming Steve and Jared to Moscow". Talks with Putin were planned for 10am Paris time, and two sources cited by Reuters said the envoys would meet Dmitriev first.

After Moscow, the US negotiators plan to fly to Ireland to meet Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who is due to attend a meeting of European leaders there. Euronews reported that Washington is seeking Putin's approval to bring European representatives into the negotiations, and that this is Witkoff's tenth visit to Russia since Donald Trump returned to the White House. The Independent reported that Kushner has said European partners must be at the negotiating table.

In Abu Dhabi, Russian and Ukrainian negotiators agreed to a prisoner exchange. US mediators said differences remained on major issues, including territorial questions. Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said it was too soon to say whether trust had been restored between Russia and Ukraine.

Fighting continued around the talks. Russia and Ukraine exchanged attacks on each other's capitals early on Thursday. Explosions were heard across Kyiv with no immediate reports of damage, and Moscow mayor Sergei Sobyanin said air defences shot down five drones heading towards Moscow. Deputy Energy Minister Artem Nekrasov said Russian strikes on energy infrastructure caused power outages in nine regions: Vinnytsia, Dnipropetrovsk, Zhytomyr, Zaporizhzhia, Odesa, Rivne, Sumy, Kharkiv and Cherkasy.

Russia's defence ministry said it hit military and energy facilities in Ukraine, a munitions warehouse in Kyiv and the surrounding region, and a cargo vessel heading to ports in the Odesa region.

In Dublin, leaders from more than 40 European countries gathered for a European Political Community summit on European security. Irish Prime Minister Micheál Martin spoke of coming together "to advance the security, stability and prosperity of our continent." Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney and NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte were among those attending.

Estonian Prime Minister Kristen Michal said Europe does not need a new envoy, as European Council head Antonio Costa and Kaja Kallas would represent it. France's European affairs minister, Benjamin Haddad, said the EU would approve new sanctions on Monday targeting 150 more entities and 50 banks, with France proposing most of the entities.