Russian officials said after the second day of U.S.-mediated talks in the United Arab Emirates on Wednesday that a major prisoner swap agreement had been reached, although the exact number of prisoners to be exchanged was not made public and major questions remain over Ukraine security guarantees and territory negotiations.

Mr. Kushner, President Trump’s son-in-law and one of the chief U.S. negotiators at the talks in Abu Dhabi with Mr. Witkoff, told reporters after the trilateral meeting that the talks were “substantive” but “very tough.” Mr. Kushner said he and Mr. Witkoff will travel Thursday to Moscow to brief Mr. Putin on the status of the negotiations.

The two diplomats will then meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Dublin for discussions on how to build on the momentum from the trilateral meeting. The Kyiv Post had a more skeptical presentation of the talks, running with the following headline Wednesday: “Russia’s Chief Negotiator Vows to Take Back ‘Every Inch of Russian Land.’”

A senior U.S. Army soldier is in British custody after authorities there accused him of passing classified information to Russia. London’s Metropolitan Police said the 41-year-old soldier, who has not been identified, was arrested Tuesday “as part of an investigation by Counter Terrorism Policing.”

U.S. officials have released limited details. FBI Director Kash Patel said in a statement posted Tuesday on Facebook that the arrest “involves allegations of espionage, which is of the utmost concern to the United States and our allies.”

“While this investigation is continuing, I want to send a clear message – this FBI has no tolerance for anyone who breaks their oath to the United States and whose actions endanger our national security and that of our partners,” Mr. Patel said. “This includes 167 counterintelligence and espionage arrests from this FBI over the last 21 months — a 53% increase.”

Taiwanese intelligence officers are investigating how Alice Huang, the alleged Chinese spy who had an affair with Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, was able to visit the island democracy, which is a central node in the global microchip supply chain.

U.S. agencies are concerned that Ms. Huang led Mr. Huang — the two are unrelated — to supply huge shipments of Nvidia’s AI chips to a Singapore firm and thence to China. Mr. Huang was born in southern Taiwan in 1963 and moved to the U.S. at the age of 9, but maintains close ties with the island’s business community.

Taiwanese media have documented at least two of Ms. Huang’s visits to Taiwan, raising questions as to whether security and border agencies were aware of her. According to Taiwan News, Ms. Huang attended the Taipei International Computer Show in June 2024 and socialized with Mr. Huang and local executives after hours in a whiskey bar. She later posted on Chinese social media a picture of a Taiwanese-made Kavalan whiskey signed by Mr. Huang.

Veterans Day is “a time for all of us to remember the sacrifice, courage and legacy of our extraordinary veterans,” retired CIA Clandestine Services Officer Daniel N. Hoffman writes in his biweekly column for The Washington Times.

“This year, the timing could not be better. While the partisan midterm elections are still clearly visible in our rearview mirror, Veterans Day falls just days after Election Day,” Mr. Hoffman writes. “We are past the rancorous political debate, and it is time to remember what should unite us as a nation.

“We can thank our veterans for demonstrating that the strength of our nation lies in our citizenry, serving together with a common purpose in the most trying circumstances,” he writes. “Let us do our best to honor our veterans every day by carrying their patriotic spirit with us and demanding that our elected officials do likewise — while collaborating to overcome our nation’s challenges.”

It “must have been difficult” for the governments of China, Russia, Iran and North Korea to comment about the U.S. election when their people and many others are denied the ability to participate in free and fair elections, writes Joseph R. DeTrani, a former associate director of national intelligence.

“Such governments are not answerable to the people. They answer only to a supreme leader, a ruling theocracy or a political party,” Mr. DeTrani writes in an op-ed for The Times.

“According to The Economist’s Democracy Index, authoritarian countries account for 36.5% of the world’s countries. Hopefully, this percentage will shrink,” he writes. “Recent elections in Serbia, Hungary and Brazil give hope that democracy will prevail. It is what the people want and demand of their governments.”

• Nov. 13 — The Future of U.S.-Japan Cooperation in a Competitive World: Economic Security and Strategy, Hudson Institute

• Nov. 16 — The Black Sea Blueprint for Taiwan: Lessons in Asymmetric Naval Warfare, Foundation for Defense of Democracies

• Nov. 16 — The Strategic Implications of the Russia-North Korea Axis, Center for Strategic and International Studies

• Nov. 17 — Special Threat Status Event: The Golden Age of Space, Threat Status

• Nov. 18 — Rebuilding the Arsenal of Freedom and Reindustrializing America, Hudson Institute

• Nov. 20-22 — Halifax International Security Forum in Nova Scotia, Canada, HFX