By BASSAM HATOUM Associated Press
ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Officials at U.S.-mediated talks between Russia and Ukraine said Wednesday that the sides have agreed a large exchange of prisoners of war.
“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,” Jared Kushner, U.S. President Donald Trump’s son-in-law, said after the two days of talks in Abu Dhabi ended.
Vladimir Medinsky, the head of the Russian delegation, and Rustem Umerov, who led Kyiv’s delegation in Abu Dhabi, confirmed the planned exchange.
Hopes were low for any major breakthrough in the first meeting in nine months between the delegations. Russia and Ukraine have from time to time swapped prisoners during their nearly five-year war.
U.S. officials say they are determined to revive Washington’s peace efforts that so far have failed to deliver significant results.
Kushner says he and U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff will travel to Moscow on Thursday to meet with President Vladimir Putin, then fly to Dublin to meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
The context of the negotiations has changed since the last meeting in February in Geneva. The Trump administration has to reckon with Democrats, who could demand more support for Ukraine, taking over the U.S. Congress in January following the U.S. midterm elections.
Also, Russia’s wartime economy is under heavy strain, and Ukraine is reeling from devastating aerial attacks on its power grid.
Umerov said Kyiv’s delegation is expected to meet Wednesday with European officials.
Moscow doesn’t want European countries, which are concerned about Russia’s conduct and broader intentions on the continent, involved in the direct negotiations. However, representatives of European governments, the European Union and NATO were in Abu Dhabi and were consulting with the Ukrainian delegation, officials said.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Tuesday’s session was “constructive and quite substantive.”
The talks were largely about humanitarian issues, including possible prisoner exchanges and returning Ukrainian civilians in captivity, as well as children taken from the country, he said.
Security guarantees also were discussed, he said. However, Russia and Ukraine have shown no sign of a willingness to compromise on their demands.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio called the meeting “very productive,” while cautioning that a breakthrough on stopping the war will take time.
The Abu Dhabi talks are being held against the backdrop of continued fighting on the front line, where little territory has changed hands this year.
Meanwhile, both countries are battering each other with long-range missiles and drones.
Overnight, Russia struck the southern Zaporizhzhia region and the eastern city of Kharkiv, wounding seven civilians and damaging property.
Russia’s Defense Ministry said that air defenses downed 627 Ukrainian drones overnight, 150 of them over the region around St. Petersburg, according to the regional Gov. Alexander Drozdenko.
He said that the drones started a fire at the port of Ust-Luga, one of the main facilities for Russian oil exports, injuring three workers.
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