Russia, Ukraine held first US-mediated talks in nine months

Russia and Ukraine on Tuesday held their first US-mediated talks in nine months on ending their war, with U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio calling the meeting "very productive" and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy saying the session was "constructive and quite substantive."

Neither US Secretary of State Marco Rubio nor Ukrainian President Volodymr Zelenskyy attended the talks in Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates. The session lasted four hours and another is scheduled for a second day Wednesday.

Delegations from Moscow and Kyiv met as Washington, represented by US President Donald Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner and envoy Steve Witkoff, renewed its push to stop the fighting.

"It looks like the talks in Abu Dhabi were very productive," Rubio said in Paris at the Group of Seven meeting, though he urged patience.

"There's a lot of work to be done in that regard. It's not like something that's on the verge of being solved in the next 24 hours or anything like that."

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that Wednesday will be the most important day in the trilateral talks.

Speaking at a press-conference in Copenhagen late on Tuesday, Zelenskyy said that plans for large-scale prisoner exchange, "perhaps even 1,500 for 1,500," was discussed.

He also said there could be discussions about a potential meeting between him and Russian president Vladimir Putin.

VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY: "We think we need to speak about a lot of things. How about Kherson? We spoke about Kherson, is divided by the river for today. On one bank there is Russians, on another bank, we control everything. But people want to live both banks. And this is Ukrainian city. And these are such questions are yes, they're sensitive. Yes, they are very difficult. But, we have to speak about it. We are ready for this meeting. I think that tomorrow they will discuss possibility to meet on the level of leaders. I'm not sure that Russia is ready, but we will raise these topic."

Meanwhile, Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova questioned the purpose of European representatives' presence in Abu Dhabi during Russia-Ukraine negotiations, suggesting they were there to provide political and informational support to Kyiv.

"It would be better if they provided such support by encouraging a peaceful settlement and an end to terrorist activities," she added.