U.S. envoys Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff held more than four hours of talks with Vladimir Putin in the Kremlin before travelling on to Dublin to debrief Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Kushner, the son-in-law of U.S. President Donald Trump, said on Thursday that Russia and Ukraine had agreed to expand the next round of talks to include European nations, a development that both the U.S. and Ukrainian sides have now confirmed.

Despite the expanded format, Putin has continued to take a hardline position on the war. Kushner also said Washington was working toward what he described as the war's "largest prisoner exchange," an indication that the diplomatic track is producing concrete steps alongside the broader talks on a settlement.S1S2