Ukraine and Russia discuss prisoner swap deal during ‘constructive’ talks
Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelenskyy welcomed a positive day of direct negotiations with Russia in Abu Dhabi.
Abu Dhabi hosted talks between Russian and Ukrainian negotiators to resume face-to-face discussions on ending the ongoing four-and-a-half year war. Although the two sides touched upon the exchange of prisoners, it remains non-finalized, according to a government source. The meeting in Abu Dhabi aimed to establish security guarantees for both Ukraine and Russia post-war.
On the second day of the meeting, negotiators were expected to address the sensitive topic of territorial adjustments. Both Russia and Ukraine displayed willingness to be flexible regarding territorial matters. U.S. officials who organized the meeting stated that Russia and Ukraine exhibited at least some flexibility on the land issue.
Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy commented on X, stating that the meeting was "constructive and quite substantive," and emphasized the priority of discussing humanitarian steps, including prisoner releases. The U.S. is seeking Russian consent for providing Ukraine with NATO-like commitments or even for NATO to sign such an agreement.
Russian state media reported that the talks lasted for 4.5 hours in Russian. The U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio expressed optimism, stating that the talks were productive, but acknowledged that significant work remains to be done.
Written by urgent.news from Politico EU's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
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