US envoy Kushner says had good discussions with Zelensky and very intense talks over the last three days, adds had detailed and productive meeting with Russian President Putin and finalized POW exchange with Putin and Zelensky

• Russian President Putin is willing to give Europeans a seat on the table.
• Cannot conclude a deal without European at the table.

Envoy-led shuttle diplomacy of this kind, with the same intermediary passing between Kyiv and Moscow, has historically preceded framework announcements rather than concluded agreements, and the sequencing here is the familiar one: prisoner exchanges are the classic low-cost confidence-building step that both sides can execute before any territorial or ceasefire question is touched. The notable element is the framing around a European seat at the table, since disputes over the negotiating format have repeatedly stalled prior rounds; willingness to widen the table reads as progress on process rather than on substance. Kushner's track record is as a deal intermediary in prior conflict files, so the messenger carries some weight, though his role here is unofficial and any durable agreement would still require formal state endorsement. The established market pattern for ceasefire optimism in this conflict has been compression in European defence names, relief in regional sovereign risk, and softness in crude and European gas through the risk-premium channel, all of which tend to fade when talks stall on the territorial core issues. The follow-ons that matter are whether Moscow and Kyiv confirm the exchange independently, whether a dated next round is announced, and whether the language moves from talks-about-talks to named ceasefire terms.