Delegates from Russia and Ukraine agreed on a prisoner exchange after two days of US-mediated talks in Abu Dhabi, officials said on Wednesday. The negotiations failed to secure a wider breakthrough on ending the conflict, which is nearing the five-year mark.
Vladimir Medinsky, Russia’s chief negotiator, said both sides reached an agreement on a large-scale prisoner swap. Mutual understanding was achieved on some issues during the meetings in the capital of the United Arab Emirates.
TASS, the state-run Russian news agency, reported that the exchange should take place within two to three weeks. US envoy Jared Kushner told a news conference that the exact number of prisoners would be finalised on Thursday.
Kushner described the negotiations as a tough meeting but a productive one. Territorial issues remained the hardest to settle, though progress was made on a post-war security framework.
Political analyst Dmitry Medvedenko told reporters that prisoner exchanges have occurred regularly without requiring this level of diplomatic effort. Previous swaps included 200 prisoners freed by each side in March following Geneva talks, and 146 prisoners exchanged last year through UAE mediation. Medvedenko said that for the upcoming swap to be the largest, it would need to surpass a 1,000-for-1,000 exchange that took place in May of last year.
Kushner stated that he and US special envoy Steve Witkoff would travel to Moscow to brief Russian President Vladimir Putin. The visit aimed to make more progress on issues discussed, citing openings and opportunities.
Kushner and Witkoff are scheduled to fly next to Dublin to meet Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and explore ideas generated during the sessions. Zelenskyy stated on Wednesday that he did not believe European security could be considered without Europe.
Medinsky said talks would happen soon and that Moscow was not opposed to European Union participation. It was unclear what Russia and the EU had to discuss given a perceived lack of proposals from the European side, he added.
David Arakhamia, a peace negotiator for Ukraine, pointed to good momentum towards reaching a solution before the end of the year. Future negotiations should be multilateral rather than trilateral, with European representation included, he suggested.
Kushner confirmed that upcoming discussions with the Russian and Ukrainian presidents would touch on whether European nations can be brought into the format.
