Overview
- Negotiators from Ukraine and Russia completed a second day of U.S.-mediated talks in Abu Dhabi, with Rustem Umerov calling the discussions substantive and focused on practical steps.
- U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff confirmed an agreed swap of 314 prisoners of war, the first such exchange in about five months.
- Russia continues large strikes on Ukraine’s energy network during the talks, with officials reporting massive missile and drone barrages that cut power and heat in multiple cities.
- The fundamental divide over the fate of the Donbass remains the main obstacle, as Moscow presses for control and Kyiv rejects territorial concessions.
- The meetings coincided with the lapse of the New START nuclear treaty, adding strategic concern to already fraught diplomacy.