Russia and Ukraine Agree to 'Biggest Humanitarian' Prisoner Swap After Abu Dhabi Talks

Russia and Ukraine have agreed to a large exchange of prisoners of war, officials said Wednesday as two days of U.S.-mediated talks ended in Abu Dhabi, the first meeting between the two delegations in nine months.

"One of the positives is we agreed that we're going to have the biggest humanitarian release of prisoners, which we're going to finalize the numbers tomorrow," said Jared Kushner, President Trump's son-in-law, after the talks. Vladimir Medinsky, who leads the Russian delegation, and Rustem Umerov, who led Kyiv's team, both confirmed the planned exchange. The two countries have swapped prisoners from time to time during a war now approaching its fifth year.

Hopes for a major breakthrough were low going in. U.S. officials say they are determined to revive Washington's peace effort, which so far has produced no significant results. Kushner said he and U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff will travel to Moscow on Thursday to meet President Vladimir Putin, then fly to Dublin to meet Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

The backdrop has shifted since the last round, held in Geneva in February. Democrats, who could demand more support for Ukraine, will take over the U.S. Congress in January after the midterm elections. Russia's wartime economy is under heavy strain, and Ukraine is reeling from devastating aerial attacks on its power grid.

Zelenskyy called Tuesday's session "constructive and quite substantive." He said the talks centered on humanitarian questions, including possible prisoner exchanges, the return of Ukrainian civilians held in captivity and the return of children taken from the country. Security guarantees were also discussed. Neither side has shown any willingness to compromise on its core demands. Secretary of State Marco Rubio called the meeting "very productive" but cautioned that a breakthrough on ending the war will take time.

Representatives of European governments, the European Union and NATO were in Abu Dhabi and consulted with the Ukrainian delegation, officials said. Umerov said his team was expected to meet European officials Wednesday. Moscow does not want European countries, which are worried about Russia's conduct and broader intentions on the continent, involved in the direct negotiations.

The fighting did not pause while the diplomats talked. Overnight, Russia struck the southern Zaporizhzhia region and the eastern city of Kharkiv, wounding seven civilians and damaging property. Russia's Defense Ministry said its air defenses shot down 627 Ukrainian drones overnight, 150 of them over the region around St. Petersburg, according to regional Gov. Alexander Drozdenko.

Drozdenko said the drones started a fire at the port of Ust-Luga, one of Russia's main oil export facilities, and injured three workers. Little territory has changed hands on the front line this year, but both countries continue to hit each other with long-range missiles and drones.

The final size of the prisoner exchange was still to be settled Thursday. If the numbers match Kushner's description, it would be the largest such release of the war, and the first concrete result from the renewed American push.