“We need to have the Europeans at the table,” Kushner told POLITICO. “We have relayed to President Putin directly several times and to his team that the only way to get this done is to have them by our side and I think they are receptive to it.

“I believe that hopefully tomorrow in Moscow, Steve and I will be successful and President Putin will give the blessing for that to occur. I think that if he agrees to that we will be able to make a lot more progress on the issues that matter.” 

The talks in Abu Dhabi were the first between Russia, Ukraine and the U.S. since February. Ukraine and its allies in Europe had played down expectations of a breakthrough at the talks, and no progress was announced on critical issues such as ceasefires covering energy infrastructure, Black Sea shipping or territory. 

But the fact the sides were meeting again after nine months without any discussions was seen in European capitals as an important step. 

In a move designed to build confidence between the warring nations, Kushner announced that Russia and Ukraine had agreed to what is likely to be “the biggest” exchange of prisoners since the start of the war. The numbers will be confirmed Thursday, he added. Russian state-controlled news agency Tass confirmed that a “large-scale” prisoner exchange had been agreed. 

Kushner said that, overall, the two-day talks were “substantive” and “pretty tough” but “a good first step” to get the two sides talking again after a nine-month break.