Without electricity in Belgorod. Photo Reuters / Scanpix / LETA.
- The second stage of trilateral negotiations between Russia, Ukraine, and the USA has concluded in Abu Dhabi. An important outcome was the agreement on a prisoner exchange under the "157 for 157" scheme, marking the first such exchange in the last five months.
- Trump's special envoy Steve Witkoff noted that during the two-day meetings, the delegations discussed various aspects, including ceasefire issues and monitoring compliance.
- Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky announced the possibility of holding the next round of negotiations on US territory.
- Vyacheslav Gladkov, the governor of Belgorod region, reported damages in the city due to shelling from the Ukrainian side. Earlier, a radiologist was killed in the region as a result of a drone attack.
- According to Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko, the restoration of the Darnytsia thermal power plant will take at least two months.
- The USA and Russia have reached an agreement to resume high-level dialogue between their armed forces' commands, which was suspended in the fall of 2021.
- The Russian Ministry of Defense reported that 17 drones were shot down on Thursday evening, of which 13 were over Bryansk region, three over Belgorod, and one over Kursk.
- Volodymyr Zelensky also stated that after the war, he plans to maintain the number of Ukrainian armed forces at 800,000 and transition to a contract-based army recruitment system.
- The Swiss Foreign Minister Ignazio Cassis arrived in Moscow for a visit, accompanied by the OSCE Secretary General Feridun Sinirlioğlu.
- The Prime Minister of Latvia, Evika Siliņa, and the President of Estonia, Alar Karis, called on the EU to appoint a special representative to restore dialogue with the Kremlin.
- A court in Kazakhstan rejected the request for political asylum from former Russian serviceman Yevgeny Korobov, who had deserted.
