Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said that the possibility of a large-scale prisoner-of-war exchange was discussed during negotiations in Abu Dhabi, with the sides considering swapping 1,000 prisoners each — possibly 1,500.
“Tomorrow is the main day for the negotiating team. Today, they discussed the possibility of an exchange. They want to arrange a 1,000-for-1,000 exchange, possibly 1,500-for-1,500. The Americans will travel to Russia with a large-scale prisoner exchange on their agenda,” Zelenskyy said at a press conference on Nov. 11.
The first round of trilateral talks between Ukraine, the United States and Russia concluded in Abu Dhabi on Tuesday. A source told Ukrainska Pravda that during the first round, the parties discussed security guarantees and Russia’s demands and touched on the issue of the post-war future. The parties agreed to hold a “large-scale prisoner exchange in the near future.”
The second issue was territory, which was raised by the Russians, Zelenskyy said. “This is an issue for the leaders to discuss — our negotiators have that mandate.” He identified NATO and EU membership as another important issue raised during the negotiations, and said it was very important that representatives from Europe were present.
Wednesday’s talks will focus more on steps toward de-escalation, energy, the Black Sea and a trilateral meeting at the level of leaders, Zelenskyy said.
The Ukrainian delegation is led by Rustem Umierov, head of the Foreign Intelligence Service. Kyiv is also represented by Kyrylo Budanov, head of the President’s Office; Davyd Arakhamiia, leader of the Servant of the People parliamentary faction; Serhii Kyslytsia, first deputy head of the President’s Office; and Vadym Skibitskyi, deputy head of Defence Intelligence of Ukraine. U.S. envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner joined the talks, the first meeting of the three sides in this format since February.
Kushner told delegates the United States had “narrowed the gaps” between the sides and hoped to move toward a solution to Europe’s worst conflict since World War II. In Paris, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio hailed the talks as “very productive” and called for Europeans to be eventually included at the negotiating table. Zelenskyy described the first day’s discussions as “constructive and quite substantive.”
No ceasefire was agreed. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov rejected European calls for a ceasefire, saying Brussels only wants to “buy time” for Kyiv, according to Dawn. The talks are set to continue on Wednesday, with a second day of negotiations scheduled in Abu Dhabi.
