Ukraine talks yield major prisoner exchange but little progress on peace
Russia and Ukraine reached agreement on the largest prisoner exchange of their nearly five-year war during the first US-brokered talks between the sides since February. The swap is expected to involve more than 1,000 prisoners from each country, an arrangement Jared Kushner said could reunite families, build trust and create momentum towards peace. Senior delegations met for two days in Abu Dhabi, led by Kushner and Steve Witkoff, but the discussions produced little progress on the central political obstacles to a broader settlement.
David Arakhamia, a senior member of Ukraine’s delegation, said Russia had arrived with “very, very strict directives”, though he reported substantial movement on possible postwar security guarantees for Ukraine. Kushner also said he could see a possible path to an agreement, while acknowledging that the territorial dispute remained unresolved. Russia continues to demand control of all the Donbas and parts of two southern regions it does not fully occupy. Vladimir Medinsky, who led Russia’s delegation, said every inch of territory Moscow considers its own would be returned and that peace would have to be achieved on Russia’s terms.
The talks also raised wider European security concerns. Medinsky called for a new security system across Europe, echoing Russia’s earlier demands for limits on Nato enlargement, forces and weapons. European governments sent representatives to Abu Dhabi, worried that decisions about the continent’s security could be made without them. Kushner said Europe should appoint a single representative. The US envoys are due to meet Vladimir Putin in Moscow before travelling to Dublin for talks with Volodymyr Zelenskyy and European partners.
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