US and Russia agree to reestablish military dialogue after Ukraine talks

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — The U.S. and Russia agreed Thursday to reestablish high-level subject dialog for the archetypal clip successful much than 4 years successful different motion of warming relations betwixt the 2 countries since President Donald Trump returned to bureau and sought to extremity the warfare successful Ukraine.

High-level subject connection was suspended successful precocious 2021, arsenic hostility betwixt Moscow and Washington roseate up of the full-scale Russian penetration of Ukraine successful February 2022. Trump past campaigned for a 2nd word connected promises that helium would swiftly extremity the fighting. Many of his proposals for bid person heavy favored the Kremlin, including requiring Ukraine to cede territory to Russia.

The restored connection transmission “will supply a accordant military-to-military interaction arsenic the parties proceed to enactment towards a lasting peace,” the U.S. European Command said successful a statement. The statement emerged from a gathering betwixt elder Russian and American subject officials successful the superior of the United Arab Emirates.

U.S. Gen. Alexus Grynkewich, who is the commandant successful Europe of some U.S. and NATO forces, was successful Abu Dhabi, wherever talks betwixt American, Russian and Ukrainian officials connected ending the warfare entered a 2nd day.

Meanwhile, Moscow escalated its attacks connected Ukraine’s powerfulness grid successful an evident effort to contradict civilians powerfulness and to weaken nationalist enactment for the fight, portion hostilities continued on the astir 1,000-kilometer (600-mile) beforehand enactment snaking done eastbound and confederate parts of Ukraine.

An effort to easiness tensions

The resumption of the subject hotline marks an effort to easiness tensions that soared aft the commencement of the warfare and to debar collisions betwixt Russian and U.S. forces.

In 1 specified incidental successful March 2023, the American subject said it ditched an Air Force MQ-9 Reaper drone successful the Black Sea aft a brace of Russian combatant jets dumped substance connected it, and past 1 of them struck its propeller portion flying successful planetary airspace.

Moscow has denied that its warplanes deed the drone, alleging that it crashed portion making a crisp maneuver. The Kremlin said its craft reacted to a usurpation of a no-fly portion Russia has established successful the country adjacent Crimea.

Moscow has repeatedly voiced interest astir quality flights by the U.S. and different NATO craft implicit the Black Sea, and immoderate Russian officials charged that the American surveillance flights helped stitchery quality that allowed Ukraine to onslaught Russian targets.

NATO members person been progressively disquieted astir intrusions into allied airspace. Some European officials described the incidents arsenic Moscow investigating NATO’s response.

In September, a swarm of Russian drones flew into Poland’s airspace, prompting NATO craft to scramble to intercept them and sprout down immoderate of the devices. It was the archetypal nonstop brushwood betwixt NATO and Moscow since the full-scale invasion. Later that month, NATO jets escorted 3 Russian warplanes retired of Estonia’s airspace.

Russia, Ukraine speech prisoners pursuing talks

The delegations from Moscow and Kyiv were joined Thursday successful Abu Dhabi by U.S. peculiar envoy Steve Witkoff and Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, according to Rustem Umerov, Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council chief, who was contiguous astatine the meeting.

They were besides astatine past month's talks successful the aforesaid spot arsenic the Trump medication tries to steer Russia and Ukraine toward a settlement.

Officials person provided nary accusation astir immoderate advancement successful the discussions.

Following the talks connected Thursday, however, Russia and Ukraine said they carried retired a captive exchange.

The Russian Defense Ministry said it brought 157 Russian servicemen backmost from Ukrainian captivity, arsenic good arsenic 3 Russian nationals captured during Kyiv's incursion into Russia's Kursk region. Ukrainian officials said 150 Ukrainian servicemen and 7 civilians returned from Russian captivity.

The Russian Defense Ministry said the released Russian soldiers are presently successful Belarus, getting aesculapian assistance, earlier being taken backmost to Russia “for attraction and rehabilitation.”

Ukrainian quality rights ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets said that among the 150 work members who returned from Russian captivity, 18 were "illegally sentenced by Russia.” He said that “overall, those released are successful a hard intelligence condition, and immoderate are critically underweight.”

Zelenskyy says 55,000 Ukrainian troops killed successful the war

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said 55,000 Ukrainian troops person died since Russia’s invasion. “And determination is simply a ample fig of radical whom Ukraine considers missing,” helium added successful an interrogation broadcast precocious Wednesday by French TV transmission France 2.

The past clip Zelenskyy gave a fig for battlefield deaths, successful aboriginal 2025, helium said 46,000 Ukrainian troops had been killed.

Zelenskyy has repeatedly said his state needs information guarantees from the U.S. and Europe to deter immoderate postwar Russian attacks.

Ukrainians indispensable consciousness that determination is genuine advancement toward bid and “not toward a script successful which the Russians exploit everything to their vantage and proceed their strikes,” Zelenskyy said connected societal media precocious Wednesday.

Last twelvemonth saw a 31% summation successful Ukrainian civilian casualties compared with 2024, the advocacy radical Human Rights Watch said successful a study published Wednesday.

Almost 15,000 Ukrainian civilians person been killed and conscionable implicit 40,000 wounded since the commencement of the warfare done past December, according to the United Nations Human Rights Monitoring Mission successful Ukraine.

In different developments:

Russian troops person mislaid entree to their Starlink outer net terminals connected the beforehand line, Ukrainian Economic Minister Mykhailo Fedorov said Thursday, aft Ukraine asked Elon Musk’s SpaceX to assistance contradict Russia usage of the work successful Ukraine.

Russian forces person consequently mislaid command-and-control capabilities and navigation for drones, and assaults person stopped successful galore sectors, according to Fedorov’s advisor Serhii Beskrestnov. Russian officials made nary contiguous comment.

Ukraine is registering its civilian and subject Starlink users connected a database, allowing approved devices to relation portion unregistered terminals are disabled wrong Ukraine.

Also, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said during a sojourn to Kyiv that helium agreed with Zelenskyy to make the associated accumulation of ammunition astatine plants successful their countries.

Zelenskyy said Poland plans to summation supplies to Ukraine of liquefied earthy gas, and the countries are exploring an speech of weaponry, with Kyiv perchance receiving Polish MiG combatant jets and Warsaw receiving Ukrainian drones.

Russia fired 183 drones and 2 ballistic missiles astatine Ukraine overnight, according to the Ukrainian aerial force. Three radical were injured, officials said.

The Russian Defense Ministry said its aerial defenses downed 95 Ukrainian drones overnight implicit respective regions, the Azov Sea and Crimea, which Russia illegally annexed successful 2014.

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Burrows reported from London.

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This communicative corrects an earlier mentation that said Russia illegally annexed Crimea successful 2016. The annexation happened successful 2014.

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Follow AP’s sum of the warfare successful Ukraine astatine https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine

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