Russia And Ukraine Agree To Prisoner Swap In Abu Dhabi
Moscow’s lead negotiator says the two days of talks were friendly and focused on substance, while Kushner says Russia wants concrete progress before any Putin-Zelensky meeting
ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) - Russia and Ukraine have agreed on a new, large prisoner exchange after two days of US-mediated talks in Abu Dhabi, the head of Russia’s negotiating team, Vladimir Medinsky, said on Wednesday.
Medinsky said the details will be announced later and that Russia will not publicly discuss the talks’ specifics until an agreement is reached.
US envoy Jared Kushner said he and special envoy Steve Witkoff will fly to Moscow on Thursday to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin, and then go to Dublin to meet Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
Medinsky said the talks took place in a friendly atmosphere and focused on substantive work, and that the question of European security architecture was at the center of the discussions. He said no talks were held with representatives of European countries in Abu Dhabi, where European officials held separate meetings with the Ukrainian delegation. Kushner said he had held “very constructive” discussions with the European Union and NATO.
He said Ukraine and Russia both want to know what the situation will look like after the war, and that the Russians stressed the need for tangible progress in the negotiations before any meeting between Putin and Zelensky. He also cautioned that deep distrust between the two sides remains a major obstacle.
The talks, held on Tuesday and Wednesday, were the first US-mediated session between the two sides in nine months, according to The Associated Press.
Ukraine’s delegation was led by foreign intelligence chief Rustem Umerov, and Zelensky said the talks were largely about humanitarian issues, including prisoner exchanges, the return of Ukrainian civilians in captivity and of children taken from Ukraine, with security guarantees also discussed.
The second day lasted under two hours, according to The Moscow Times. Neither side has shown a willingness to compromise on its core demands.