Russia-Ukraine talks mediated by U.S. end with news of 'good momentum,' large-scale prisoner swap

Detailed summary

Russia's chief negotiator at the latest Ukraine peace talks in Abu Dhabi said Wednesday after their conclusion that mutual understanding ‌had been achieved on some issues, but not on others, and that more negotiations would take place.

In remarks broadcast on Russian state television, Vladimir Medinsky said that a ​new potential future European security framework had been ​a central theme in the two-day talks.

"Together with the American side, we exchanged our views on this; ​on some points we reached a common understanding, ⁠whilst on others we ⁠did not. And this ‌discussion will, of course, continue. The world needs a new, modern, updated security system — one that is fair and does not disadvantage any particular countries," Medinsky said.

Vladimir Medinsky, an aide to Russian President Vladimir Putin, is shown Monday at the trilateral talks between the United States, Russian and Ukrainian delegations, in Abu Dhabi. (Rula Rouhana/Reuters)

He was cool ⁠however on the prospect of European countries joining future talks, and said it was unclear what there was for Russia and the European ‌Union to discuss, given what he said was a lack of proposals from the European side.

"We have not received a single peace initiative or a single concrete peace proposal ​from European countries, so it is unclear what there is to discuss," he said. "When ⁠they come up with some concrete proposals, then we’ll give those proposals ⁠some thought.

"As things stand, I think it would be ⁠useful ⁠for them to learn, for ​example, from the American envoys — in terms of common sense, realism and ​a desire to ⁠achieve peace."

Russia and Ukraine had agreed on a large-scale prisoner swap during the talks, Medinsky added, the latest in a long line of such exchanges. He said the details of that would be made ⁠public soon.

The swap may ​happen in ⁠the ⁠next ‌two to three weeks, Russian state news ⁠agency TASS cited Russian ‌Lt.-Gen. Alexander Zorin as saying.

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