Russia-Ukraine talks in Abu Dhabi end with prisoner exchange agreement

Two days of talks between Russian and Ukrainian officials, mediated by the United States, have yielded agreement on a prisoner exchange but failed to make a breakthrough on ending the war, which is nearing the five-year mark. Russia’s chief ⁠⁠negotiator, Vladimir Medinsky, said at the talks ⁠⁠in the United Arab Emirates capital, Abu Dhabi, on Wednesday that both sides had agreed on a large-scale prisoner swap and that mutual understanding ⁠⁠had been achieved on some issues.

Russia’s state-run news agency TASS reported that the prisoner exchange should happen in two to three weeks. If finalised, it would be the latest in a ⁠long line of such ⁠exchanges.

US envoy Jared Kushner told a news conference the number of prisoners would be finalised on Thursday. He added that he would travel to Moscow alongside US special envoy Steve Witkoff to relay what was discussed to Russian President Vladimir Putin and “make more progress on some of the issues that were discussed, because we see some openings and some opportunities there”.