Ukraine and Russia have agreed in principle to a major prisoner exchange following two days of US-mediated peace talks in Abu Dhabi, although negotiations ended without a breakthrough on the central issues dividing the two sides, Euronews reports from the UAE.
US envoy Jared Kushner announced the agreement on Wednesday in Abu Dhabi, saying the final number of prisoners to be exchanged would be determined on Thursday.
"One of the positives is we agreed that we're going to have the biggest humanitarian release of prisoners, which we're going to finalise the numbers tomorrow," Kushner said.
Ukraine's chief negotiator Rustem Umerov and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Medinsky also confirmed the planned exchange, although neither side provided further details on its timing or scale.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Tuesday that negotiators had been discussing an exchange of 1,000 prisoners from each side, potentially rising to 1,500 each.
The agreement marks the most concrete — and so far the only — outcome of the first direct negotiations between Kyiv and Moscow in nine months, following an earlier round in Geneva in February this year that failed to produce a breakthrough.
During negotiations in Istanbul in May 2025, the two countries also agreed to exchange 1,000 prisoners each despite failing to reach a ceasefire agreement.
US envoys head to Moscow
Kushner said he and Steve Witkoff would travel to Moscow on Thursday to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin, before heading to Dublin for talks with Zelenskyy.
Russia continues to insist that Ukraine withdraw from territory in the eastern Donbas region still under Kyiv's control, while Zelenskyy has maintained that territorial decisions must be addressed at the leaders' level.
Moscow has also rejected calls for an immediate ceasefire, insisting on broader security arrangements before agreeing to halt hostilities.
European representatives were present in Abu Dhabi for separate consultations with Ukrainian and US officials but did not participate directly in the trilateral negotiations.
Russia's chief negotiator Vladimir Medinsky said his delegation had not held talks with European representatives and questioned their presence.
"No, we did not communicate with them. We don't really understand in what capacity they are here," Medinsky told reporters.
He also said Moscow received no concrete peace initiatives or proposals from European countries, questioning what there was to discuss with them.
"We don't really understand what there is to discuss with them," he told reporters.
Umerov said Kyiv's delegation would hold further discussions with European partners on Wednesday.
Washington indicated that European countries should eventually join the negotiations, particularly as discussions expand to the continent's future security arrangements.
