Ukraine, Russia reportedly exchange attacks hours before US envoys arrive in Moscow to meet Putin

Detailed summary

The reported overnight strikes come a day after US-mediated peace talks in Abu Dhabi ended with agreement on a prisoner exchange.

Russia and Ukraine reportedly exchanged attacks on each other's capitals early on Thursday, a day after peace talks ended and hours before US envoys arrived in Moscow to meet President Vladimir Putin.

Moscow Mayor Sergey Sobyanin said Russian air defences had downed five drones heading towards the capital, without providing further details.

In Kiev, explosions were heard in the early hours of Thursday, a Reuters witness said. It was not immediately clear whether the city had sustained damage.

The attacks followed two days of US-mediated peace talks in Abu Dhabi, where Russian and Ukrainian negotiators agreed to a prisoner exchange but made no breakthrough on major issues, including territorial disputes.

US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner arrived in Moscow on Thursday for talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin, Russian media reported.

Russian presidential envoy Kirill Dmitriev met the two American representatives at Vnukovo Airport, Russian news agency Interfax reported.

State-run TASS also confirmed that a convoy carrying Dmitriev, Witkoff and Kushner left the airport after their arrival in the Russian capital.

Kushner said on Wednesday that he and Witkoff would travel to Moscow following US-mediated peace negotiations involving Russian and Ukrainian delegations.

“One of the positives is we agreed that we’re going to have the biggest humanitarian release of prisoners, and we’re going to finalise the numbers tomorrow,” Kushner said.

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