Ukraine and Russia Agree on Major Prisoner Swap in Abu Dhabi

Russia and Ukraine have agreed to a large-scale prisoner exchange following talks in Abu Dhabi, Russian chief negotiator Vladimir Medinsky said, while U.S. envoy Jared Kushner reported some progress but acknowledged that territorial issues remained the most difficult obstacle.

Medinsky, speaking on Russian state television after the negotiations ended, said the two sides had reached a common understanding on several matters and would continue discussions. He described the prisoner swap as a major exchange, without providing further details.

However, Medinsky expressed reservations about bringing European countries into the negotiations. He questioned what Moscow and the European Union could discuss, arguing that the European side had failed to put forward proposals, Reuters reported.

Kushner, who is U.S. President Donald Trump's son-in-law and a negotiator, described the Abu Dhabi discussions as "very substantive" but also "pretty tough ... after almost eight months of not being together." He said he and U.S. peace envoy Steve Witkoff would travel to Moscow on Thursday to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin and review the issues raised during the talks.

The two U.S. representatives would then fly to Dublin to meet Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, Kushner said, in order to brief him and examine proposals developed during the Abu Dhabi discussions. Zelensky is due to attend the European Political Community summit in Dublin alongside other EU leaders.

Kushner said he hoped to make progress on humanitarian assistance and secure what he called "the biggest humanitarian release of prisoners" during the meeting with Putin. He also said Washington was seeking to expand the negotiating format to include European countries, praising contacts already held with the EU, NATO, France, Germany, Italy and the United Kingdom.

The main subjects under discussion included postwar security arrangements, security guarantees, deconfliction and monitoring a possible future ceasefire. Kushner acknowledged that the territorial questions would be the hardest to resolve.

He also said he believed a face-to-face meeting between Zelensky and Putin would be beneficial, although Moscow wanted further progress before such a meeting could take place. "Clearly, there’s not great trust or love between the leaders,m so I think that if we can find a pathway to arrange…I will say this, … these deals do take time," Kushner said.

He acknowledged that trust between the negotiating sides was absent, which he considered understandable after a conflict of this nature. He stressed that Europe needed to participate in discussions on Ukraine and its postwar security, saying it was a matter in which European countries had to be involved. Kushner said he hoped Putin would approve an expanded format when they met in Moscow.

David Arakhamia, head of Zelensky's parliamentary faction and a close ally of the Ukrainian president, said he hoped the negotiations would maintain their positive momentum and produce a solution by the end of the year.

Zelensky, meanwhile, addressed the war and the Abu Dhabi negotiations in a speech to the Danish parliament, where he thanked Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen and Denmark on behalf of the Ukrainian people. He noted that he was the first foreign leader to address the Folketinget and joked that even the U.S. president had once wanted to speak there, referring to a visit in 1997.

He also made light of the close relationship between Denmark and Ukraine, saying he wished the two countries shared a border. "After all, we have Russia as our neighbour and having a neighbour like Denmark is something any country would dream of right now," Zelensky said.

Referring to U.S. President Donald Trump and his interest in Greenland, he joked that perhaps the American leader had wanted not the territory itself but to become more Danish.

Turning to the war, Zelensky said the anniversary of the end of World War I, commemorated on November 11 in many European countries, brought back memories of the devastation caused by conflict. He warned that current developments were reviving fears associated with the period when Europe and the wider world were thrown into turmoil.

He accused Russia of repeating an imperialist illusion by seeking to seize more territory, colonies, power and influence at the expense of Ukraine's independence. Zelensky also pointed to the Middle East conflict as another source of instability, warning of rising energy prices and the risk of one of the worst cost-of-living crises.

The Ukrainian president said the crisis in the Strait of Hormuz could set a dangerous precedent for other major maritime routes, including the Baltic Sea. He questioned who would protect European interests if similar actions were attempted elsewhere.

"What if someone tries to repeat what happened in the Strait of Hormuz, this time in other major shipping routes and straits around the world? And who will protect European interests?" Zelensky asked.

He added that the conflict involving Iran was also affecting Ukraine, which was experiencing shortages of weapons needed for its defense. He warned that developments in one part of the world could have consequences elsewhere, saying that wars and injustice did not remain local.

Zelensky also challenged Russia's calls for security guarantees, questioning the purpose of such demands when Moscow had not been attacked for many decades. He said Russia, in contrast, had not gone a decade without starting a war or using military force against another country since World War II.

"So when the Russians now talk about a security architecture for themselves, or about security guarantees for Russia, they are hardly talking about real security and peace." Zelensky said, arguing that Moscow wanted freedom to interfere in other countries' affairs and use force without facing resistance, while allowing Putin to retain personal power and pass on his imperialist and, in many respects, fascist views to future generations.

He insisted that Europe must have a place in any negotiations on ending the war, warning that other powers would impose decisions on Europeans if they failed to believe in their own strength. His remarks received warm applause and a standing ovation.

Zelensky also called on Europe to develop its own anti-ballistic defense program and become independent of supplies from overseas, mainly from the United States. He highlighted the importance of drone technology and the need to draw lessons from Ukraine's practical experience.

Referring to the Abu Dhabi negotiations, Zelensky said Ukrainian and American representatives had spent two days in discussions with Russia. He said Moscow had initially expected to defeat Ukraine within days or weeks but was now required to negotiate with Ukrainian representatives as equals in the fifth year of the full-scale war.