Abu Dhabi peace talks end with prisoner exchange agreement as US envoys prepare to meet Putin

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 MoscowKushner said he and Steve Witkoff would travel to Moscow on Thursday…