Russia and Ukraine have agreed in principle to a major prisoner exchange, according to the Straits Times, after US-mediated talks in Abu Dhabi ended on Nov 11 without a major breakthrough on ending the war. The Russia Ukraine prisoner swap is to be finalized in terms of numbers, which negotiators are due to set on Nov 12.
US envoy Jared Kushner called the planned swap the "biggest humanitarian release of prisoners" of the war, according to PBS NewsHour. Russian delegation head Vladimir Medinsky and Ukrainian negotiator Rustem Umerov confirmed the planned exchange, and Medinsky said it was agreed "in principle," PBS NewsHour reported.
Russian official Alexander Zorin told Russian state TV that the latest exchange could take place in the next two or three weeks, according to PBS NewsHour. The number of prisoners to be exchanged has not yet been confirmed.
The talks were the first meeting between the delegations in nine months. The sides last met in February in Geneva. Despite the agreement, US mediators said differences remained on major issues, including territory, according to the Straits Times. Kyiv has strongly rejected Putin’s demand that Ukraine surrender all of the Donbas region in return for peace.
Russia’s delegation refused to meet European and NATO representatives who were in Abu Dhabi, and Moscow opposes European involvement in direct negotiations, according to the outline’s background reporting. Both sides also accused each other of overnight attacks. The Russian side’s account of its own strikes is not available in the sources reviewed. Ukraine said it was still awaiting a Russian response on a Black Sea grain shipment ceasefire, and no Russian reply has been reported.
Kushner and envoy Steve Witkoff plan to travel to Moscow to meet Putin, and then to Dublin to meet Zelenskyy, according to Kushner, as reported by PBS NewsHour.
The key details on the swap rest mainly on the Straits Times and PBS NewsHour, and the Japan Times source was available only as a headline and short excerpt. The Russian and Ukrainian statements are reported second-hand through state media and officials, and no independent verification of their claims is given. Final prisoner numbers and the timing of the exchange remain unconfirmed.
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This article was written with AI assistance from the published reporting listed above. It is part of the World Brief daily news podcast.