Two days of US-mediated peace talks in Abu Dhabi have produced a major humanitarian breakthrough, with Russia and Ukraine agreeing to a large prisoner exchange as American envoys prepare to meet President Vladimir Putin in Moscow on Thursday in a renewed push to end the nearly five-year war.
The agreement, described by US envoy Jared Kushner as potentially the biggest prisoner release of the conflict, emerged from the first direct negotiations between Russian and Ukrainian delegations in nine months.
Although the number of prisoners to be exchanged has yet to be finalised, the development marked a tangible outcome from the UAE-hosted discussions, which also opened the door to further high-level diplomacy.
“One of the positives is we agreed that we’re going to have the biggest humanitarian release of prisoners, which we’re going to finalize the numbers tomorrow,” Kushner said after the talks concluded on Wednesday.
The announcement came despite continuing differences between Moscow and Kyiv over territory, security guarantees and Europe’s role in any eventual peace settlement.
Putin meeting next
Kushner and fellow US envoy Steve Witkoff will travel to Moscow on Thursday to brief Putin on the Abu Dhabi negotiations and explore possible compromises.
The two envoys will subsequently travel to Dublin, where they are expected to meet Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky during a week of European summits.
