Ukraine and Russia wrap ‘productive’ first day of US-backed peace talks

Ukrainian and Russian officials wrapped up a “productive” first day of ‌new US-brokered talks in Abu Dhabi, Kyiv’s lead negotiator said on Wednesday, as fighting in Europe’s biggest conflict since World War II raged on.The ‍two-day trilateral meetings come after Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky said Russia had exploited a US-backed energy truce last week to stockpile munitions, attacking Ukraine with a record number of ballistic missiles on Tuesday.“The work was substantive and productive, focused on concrete steps and practical solutions,” Rustem Umerov, the head of Ukraine’s National Security and Defence Council, said on social media.Shortly after the talks began, Russian forces struck a crowded ⁠market in eastern Ukraine with cluster munitions, killing at least seven people and wounding 15, the Donetsk region’s Governor Vadym Filashkin said.Umerov said he would prepare a report for Zelensky, and talks were expected to continue on Thursday, a source familiar with the matter said.Jared Kushner, US Special Envoy Steve Witkoff and other members of the US delegation attend trilateral talks in Abu Dhabi on Wednesday. Photo: UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs via ReutersPhotographs released earlier in the day by the United Arab Emirates’ foreign ministry showed the three delegations sitting around a U-shaped table, with US officials seated at the centre, including special envoy Steve Witkoff and US President Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner.