Russia and Ukraine agreed in principle to a major prisoner-of-war exchange after two days of U.S.-mediated talks in Abu Dhabi ended on Nov. 11 without a visible breakthrough toward ending the war. The agreement marks a humanitarian step, but the sides have not announced the number of people to be exchanged or a final date.

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What the Abu Dhabi talks produced

Russian delegation head Vladimir Medinsky and Ukrainian negotiator Rustem Umerov confirmed the proposed exchange as the two-day round concluded. Medinsky described the understanding as being “in principle.” U.S. envoy Jared Kushner called it a major humanitarian release, while saying the numbers still had to be finalized.

That distinction matters: the announcement is an agreement to work toward a swap, not confirmation that prisoners have already been released. The parties have not publicly provided a final count or detailed timetable. A Russian military official told the Associated Press that the exchange could take place within two or three weeks, but that remains a reported estimate rather than a confirmed schedule.

Territory and security guarantees remain unresolved

The talks did not resolve the central political disputes. Reporting by the Associated Press and The Guardian described no major progress toward a peace settlement, with occupied Ukrainian territory, postwar security guarantees and Europe’s role among the outstanding issues. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy welcomed a prisoner exchange as a positive step while reiterating that Ukraine would not surrender occupied territory as part of a deal.

The meeting was the first direct round between the delegations in nine months, according to AP. The proposed swap is therefore a concrete result from the latest contact, but it does not show that the broader demands are closer to agreement. The Globuzz previously outlined the security-guarantee questions facing the Abu Dhabi talks.

AP reported Thursday that U.S. envoys Steve Witkoff and Kushner had arrived in Moscow to discuss the Abu Dhabi negotiations with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Kushner said they would then travel to Dublin to meet Zelenskyy. The announcements are follow-up diplomacy; no new peace agreement was reported in the accounts reviewed for this article.

Sources

Sources: Associated Press: Russia and Ukraine agree to a large prisoner exchange as talks end with no major breakthrough; The Guardian: Ukraine talks in Abu Dhabi bring progress on prisoners but not on peace; Associated Press: US envoys in Moscow for meeting with Putin following talks in Abu Dhabi.