Russia and Ukraine agree to large prisoners of war swap

Detailed summary

A ‌large-scale prisoner swap has been agreed between ‌Russia and ‌Ukraine at talks in Abu Dhabi, the two sides say, with US envoys to meet Russia's president.

Russia and Ukraine have agreed a large exchange of prisoners of war, officials at US-mediated talks in Abu Dhabi say.

"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," Jared Kushner, US President Donald Trump's son-in-law, said after the two days of talks in the United Arab Emirates ended.

Russian delegation head Vladimir Medinsky and Rustem Umerov, who led Ukraine's delegation in Abu Dhabi, confirmed the planned exchange on Wednesday.

The swap may happen in the next two to three weeks, Russian news agency TASS cited Russian Lieutenant-General Alexander Zorin as saying.

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.

Kushner said he and fellow US 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 Zelenskiy.

Umerov said Ukraine's delegation is expected to meet on Wednesday with European officials.

Medinsky said on Wednesday that the idea of a new security framework for Europe had been the central theme of the Abu Dhabi talks.

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