At a Glance

• Russia and Ukraine have agreed to their largest-ever prisoner exchange.

• The agreement followed two days of US-mediated talks in Abu Dhabi.

• The final number of prisoners is expected to be announced later.

• US envoys Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff are due to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow.

Russia and Ukraine have agreed to carry out their largest-ever prisoner exchange following two days of US-mediated talks in Abu Dhabi, US envoy Jared Kushner said Wednesday.

Key Statements and Focus Areas

“We agreed that we’re going to have the biggest humanitarian release of prisoners.”

— US envoy Jared Kushner

Prisoner Exchange

• Kushner said the final numbers would be confirmed later.

• Russian envoy Vladimir Medinsky and Ukrainian negotiator Rustem Umerov also confirmed the agreement.

Next Diplomatic Meetings

• Kushner and fellow US envoy Steve Witkoff are scheduled to travel to Moscow on Thursday to meet President Vladimir Putin.

• They are then expected to travel to Dublin to brief Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

The agreement marks the main concrete outcome of the two-day discussions, with both sides also agreeing to continue negotiations.

Russia and Ukraine have exchanged thousands of captured soldiers since Moscow launched its full-scale invasion in February 2022.

However, diplomatic efforts have yet to produce an agreement to end the fighting, which has caused hundreds of thousands of deaths, according to the report.

The latest talks brought together US, Russian and Ukrainian representatives in Abu Dhabi, but no breakthrough on ending the war was announced.

FYI

Prisoner exchanges have remained one of the few areas of practical cooperation between Moscow and Kyiv since the 2022 invasion. While the latest agreement represents a humanitarian development, it does not indicate progress toward a broader ceasefire or peace settlement.

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