US, Ukraine, Russia agree to exchange 314 prisoners after ‘productive’ talks, US envoy Witkoff says
US presidential envoy Steve Witkoff said that the US, Ukraine and Russia have agreed to exchange 314 prisoners in “the first such exchange in five months.”
He said:
“This outcome was achieved from peace talks that have been detailed and productive. While significant work remains, steps like this demonstrate that sustained diplomatic engagement is delivering tangible results and advancing efforts to end the war in Ukraine.”
Witkoff added that “discussions will continue, with additional progress anticipated in the coming weeks.”
Key events
Russia expels German diplomat in tit-for-tat move
Separately, Russia’s foreign ministry said it had expelled a German diplomat in response to what it said was Berlin’s unfounded expulsion of a Russian diplomat accused of espionage in January, Reuters reported.
“The expulsion of a German diplomat from Russia is completely unfounded and totally unacceptable,” said German foreign minister Johann Wadephul, adding that Russia was resorting to unjustified retaliatory measures instead of diplomacy.
Speaking during a trip to Brunei, Wadephul said the diplomat in question was a member of the military attache staff at the German embassy in Moscow.
“We reserve the right to take further action,” he added.
Ukraine-Russian talks in Abu Dhabi end, spokesperson says
The Ukraine-Russia talks in Abu Dhabi have now reportedly concluded, Ukrainian and western agencies are reporting, quoting Diana Davityan, a spokesperson for the Ukrainian led negotiator Rustem Umerov.
Turning Russian Starlinks off resulting in ‘disastrous’ impact on Russian troops in Ukraine, Ukrainian ministry adviser claims
Tech adviser to the Ukrainian defence ministry, Serhii “Flash” Beskrestnov, said that turning off the Russian Starlinks is having a “disastrous” impact on Russian troops operating in Ukraine (10:58).
“All command of the troops has collapsed. Assault operations have been stopped in many areas,” he claimed in a Facebook post.
Let’s see if we hear more on this during the day.
‘I wondered if I would be a coward or not’: five Ukrainian men on how war has changed them
Tracy McVeigh
in Kyiv
Russia’s invasion forced Ukrainian men of all ages to the frontlines, most with no experience of combat. The Guardian spoke to five soldiers about how life in the army transformed them and their relationships.
On the day of the invasion I went home, drank some wine, then the next day took my gun and went to the army offices.
US, Ukraine, Russia agree to exchange 314 prisoners after ‘productive’ talks, US envoy Witkoff says
US presidential envoy Steve Witkoff said that the US, Ukraine and Russia have agreed to exchange 314 prisoners in “the first such exchange in five months.”
He said:
“This outcome was achieved from peace talks that have been detailed and productive. While significant work remains, steps like this demonstrate that sustained diplomatic engagement is delivering tangible results and advancing efforts to end the war in Ukraine.”
Witkoff added that “discussions will continue, with additional progress anticipated in the coming weeks.”
Sanctions having ‘significant impact’ on Russian economy, says EU special envoy
Lisa O’Carroll and Jennifer Rankin in Brussels
Back to Ukraine, western sanctions are having a “significant impact” on the Russian economy, the EU’s sanctions envoy has said, ahead of the fourth anniversary of Moscow’s full-scale invasion.
David O’Sullivan, a veteran Irish official, said sanctions were “not a silver bullet” and would always face circumvention, but insisted that after four years he was confident they were having an effect.
“I am fairly bullish. I think that the sanctions have really had a significant impact on the Russian economy,” he told the Guardian in a rare interview.
“We may be, in the course of 2026, coming to a point where the whole thing becomes unsustainable, because so much of the Russian economy has been distorted so much by the building up of the war economy at the expense of the civil economy. I think defying the laws of economic gravity can only go on for so long.”
O’Sullivan was speaking after weeks of intense Russian attacks on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure as the country endures a bitterly cold winter, with temperatures in Kyiv plunging to -20C this week.
O’Sullivan, who has more than four decades’ experience in the EU institutions, was appointed EU special envoy for sanctions in December 2022 with a remit to counter their evasion and circumvention.
JD Vance arrives in Milan for 2026 Winter Olympic Games
As reported earlier, US vice-president JD Vance has now arrived in Milan, where he is expected to attend tomorrow’s opening of the 2026 Milano-Cortina Winter Olympic Games (9:55).
Major power outage reported in German city of Stuttgart
I’m also keeping an eye on media reports about a major power outage in the German city of Stuttgart this morning.
“It is known that there was a short-term power outage in the city area this morning. Currently, numerous traffic lights are still out of service. Larger intersections are also affected. The cause of the outage is not known,” the local police force said in a statement on social media.
Stuttgarter Zeitung reported that the brief outage affected traffic lights and light rail, as well as internet services in the city.
Russian Starlinks terminals inside Ukraine have been deactivated, Ukraine’s defence minister says
Ukrainian defence minister Mykhailo Fedorov said that Starlink terminals used by Russia for drone attacks inside Ukraine have been deactivated, as Kyiv continues to work with the operator to verify and “white list” the devices in the country.
In a post on Telegram, he said the “white lists” are updated once a day, saying it’s a “very large-scale process” to verify all devices.
Over the weekend, Fedorov thanked Elon Musk for his commitment to remove Russian Starlink terminals used for drone attacks inside Ukraine.
“Looks like the steps we took to stop the unauthorized use of Starlink by Russia have worked. Let us know if more needs to be done,” SpaceX CEO Musk said on X.
Musk denied in 2024 that Starlink terminals had been sold to Russia; according to Ukrainian intelligence services, the Russian army has obtained terminals through third countries rather than any official contract with Musk.
Kremlin declines to comment on reported Moscow visit by Macron’s top French diplomat
Separately, the Kremlin declined to comment on media reporting that French president Emmanuel Macron’s top diplomat, Emmanuel Bonne, travelled to Moscow in recent days for secret talks with Russian counterparts.
French newspaper l’Express (€) and Bloomberg reported on Wednesday night (£) that Bonne held “a series of rare face-to-face meetings with Russian officials as Europe seeks closer involvement in Ukraine peace talks.”
He was reported to have met with Vladimir Putin’s foreign affairs adviser, Yuri Ushakov.
The Kremlin said this morning that it would neither confirm nor deny that the talks took place, adding that “French sources are very fond of leaking to the media,” Reuters reported.
How close are the sides to a peace deal on Ukraine? – analysis
Pjotr Sauer
Russian affairs reporter
A viable path to peace remains complicated, with Moscow continuing to press maximalist territorial demands on Ukraine.
The US secretary of state, Marco Rubio, said last week that negotiations were hinging on a single, highly contentious issue: land. The Kremlin has repeatedly stated that any peace deal must have Ukraine cede the entire eastern Donbas region, including areas still under Ukrainian control.
Kyiv has rejected those terms, though Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said he is willing to consider alternative arrangements, including the withdrawal of Ukrainian troops from parts of the east and the establishment of a demilitarised zone.
US officials have been pressuring Ukraine to give up Donbas, promising security guarantees only if Kyiv first agrees to territorial concessions.
Even if some compromise were reached on territory, other obstacles would remain. Moscow has said it would not tolerate European troops on Ukrainian soil, which Kyiv sees as essential for security guarantees. The Kremlin has also demanded strict limits on the size of Ukraine’s military, a condition Zelenskyy has repeatedly ruled out.
Despite the wide gap between their positions, both sides have often engaged in a careful dance in front of Donald Trump, seeking to appear open to peace so as not to anger the US president, while placing the blame on the other side.
JD Vance about to land in Italy for 2026 Milano Cortina Olympic Games
In other news, Air Force Two carrying the US vice-president JD Vance is currently on approach to Milan’s Malpensa airport.
The vice-president, together with the US state secretary Marco Rubio, is coming to Italy to take part in tomorrow’s opening ceremony of the 2026 Milano Cortina Winter Olympic Games.
His presence – and security arrangements – sparked a controversy and protests after it emerged that agents from the United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or Ice, will be involved in his security detail.
As my colleague Sean Ingle reported, the backlash was so powerful that US Olympic officials also had to change the name of an athlete hospitality space in Milan from “Ice House” to “Winter House.”
It was a move welcomed by the American figure skater Amber Glenn, who told reporters:
“It’s unfortunate that the term ‘ice’ isn’t something we can embrace because of what is happening, and the implications of what some people are doing.”
Corriere della Sera’s Milan edition is reporting that there will be FOURTEEN planes in total involved in the US delegation, with 300 agents assigned to protect Donald Trump’s number two.
55,000 Ukrainians killed in war against Russia, Zelenskyy says
Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelenskyy told French broadcaster France 2 last night that the number of Ukrainian soldiers killed on the battlefield as a result of the country’s war with Russia is estimated at 55,000, with many more missing.
Independent international estimates – such as from the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington – talk about 100,000 to 140,000 killed.
Zelenskyy also stressed what is at stake for Ukraine, saying that “if we lose this war, we simply lose our country’s independence,” and warning that Russia’s Putin would not stop at Ukraine and could pose direct threat to more European countries.
“Ukraine’s neighbours understand that they will be the first victims” of the Kremlin’s expansionist policy, he said.
Morning opening: Trilateral talks on Ukraine war in Abu Dhabi get back under way
Jakub Krupa
Ukraine-Russia talks have restarted this morning, after Russian president’s envoy Kirill Dmitriev reported “positive movement forward” last night.
“The warmongers from Europe, from Britain, are constantly trying to interfere with this process, constantly trying to meddle in it. And the more such attempts there are, the more we see that progress is definitely being made,” he claimed.
The talks continue in a trilateral format of consultations, Ukraine’s lead negotiator and former defence minister Rustem Umerov said.
Separately, Poland’s prime minister Donald Tusk is in Kyiv today to express his solidarity with the wartorn country amid continuing energy, heat outages. Last week Poland was one of the EU countries which sent heat and power generators to the Ukrainian capital.
His visit comes just days after Nato’s secretary general Mark Rutte visited Ukraine.
Separately, EU leaders António Costa and Ursula von der Leyen are expected in Paris today for talks with the French president, Emmanuel Macron, about the upcoming EU summit on competitiveness on 12 February.
Macron, somewhat sidelined by the seemingly growing German-Italian partnership, will want to put on the table his ideas on how to fix the bloc.
Lots for us to cover.
It’s Thursday, 5 February 2026, it’s Jakub Krupa here, and this is Europe Live.
Good morning.
