Russia and Ukraine Agree to Prisoner Exchange in Abu Dhabi

Russian and Ukrainian envoys meeting in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) on Wednesday agreed to exchange prisoners of war, but no other breakthroughs were reported after two days of U.S.-mediated talks.

The talks in Abu Dhabi were the first direct meeting between Russia and Ukraine since February, when trilateral negotiations between the U.S., Ukraine, and Russia held in Geneva, Switzerland, concluded without producing significant results. Tentative plans for a follow-up meeting were delayed by the beginning of the U.S.-Israel-Iran conflict at the end of February.

President Donald Trump’s son-in-law and envoy, Jared Kushner, said one of the “positives” to emerge from the meeting in Abu Dhabi was that “we’re going to have the biggest humanitarian release of prisoners.”

The envoys from Russia and Ukraine, Vladimir Medinsky and Rustem Umerov, confirmed that an agreement for a “large-scale prisoner exchange” was reached “in principle.”

“Together with the American side, we exchanged our views ​on this; on some points we reached a common ​understanding, whilst on ‌others we did not. And this discussion will, of course, continue,” Medinsky said on Russian state television after the Abu Dhabi talks concluded.

“The world needs a new, modern, updated security system – one that ‌is fair and does not disadvantage any particular countries,” he added.

Both Medinsky and Kushner said details of the exchange, such as the number of prisoners involved, would be released later. Kushner said those details could be revealed as early as Thursday.

Umerov said the “first steps” to peace must include “an end to the war and security guarantees for Ukraine.”

“There is still a lot of difficult work ahead, but there are opportunities to continue the negotiation process,” he said.

The United Nations estimates that over 10,000 POWs have been taken by both sides combined, plus another 16,000 Ukrainian civilians that the U.N. considers to be “unlawfully detained” by Russia.

Previous agreements between Russia and Ukraine have freed a few hundred POWs at a time. Political analyst Dmitry Medvedenko told Al Jazeera News on Wednesday that the agreement announced in Abu Dhabi would have to “top the 1,000-for-1,000 exchange in May last year” in order to be seen as the biggest prisoner swap to date.

The Kyiv Post reported on Tuesday that the exchange could involve up to 1,500 prisoners from each side.

Kushner and fellow U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff are scheduled to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow on Thursday, and then with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Dublin, Ireland.

Zelensky said on Wednesday that he welcomed the “important humanitarian arrangement regarding preparations for a new exchange,” but he wanted to see more European involvement in negotiations going forward.

“We believe that Europe must be represented at every stage of real diplomacy. It is essential that the United States have a strong position and exert influence on the source of this war – that is Russia – so that Russia ends the war of its own making,” he wrote in a social media post on Wednesday.

The German government said on Wednesday that Chancellor Freidrich Merz is ready to speak with Putin after the U.S.-mediated talks in Abu Dhabi established an “understanding on the broad outlines” of a peace deal.

“This understanding will now be shared with the Russian president. And on that basis, talks may ensue,” said German government spokesman Stefan Kornelius.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Wednesday that Putin is prepared to meet with Merz and other European leaders, possibly at the upcoming G20 summit in Miami in mid-December.

“There is no decision yet regarding Putin’s participation in the G20 summit in the United States, but Putin has always said, and continues to say that he is open to contact with everyone, including Europeans,” Peskov said, specifically mentioning Merz as a leader Putin would be willing to meet with.