U.S. envoys Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff plan to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin Thursday after Russia and Ukraine reached an in-principle prisoner exchange agreement, the Associated Press reported.
The two-day U.S.-mediated talks in Abu Dhabi ended with the agreement, but statements from the delegations at the talks' conclusion gave no final count or exchange date. Kushner said negotiators expected to settle the number on Thursday, Nov. 12, calling the planned release the “biggest humanitarian release of prisoners.”
Rustem Umerov, head of Ukraine's Foreign Intelligence Service and the Ukrainian delegation, said officials were coordinating practical arrangements. Vladimir Medinsky, a Russian presidential aide who led Moscow's delegation, said the specific parameters would be announced later.
Umerov said significant differences remained after the talks, which included discussions of peace and Ukraine's postwar reconstruction. Medinsky identified Europe's future security framework as a central subject. According to AP, the talks did little to advance efforts to end the war.
A separate TASS report quoted Russian General Staff official Alexander Zorin estimating that an exchange could take place in two to three weeks if procedural work is completed. Kushner also said the envoys planned to continue to Dublin to meet Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the AP reported.
EconoTimes previously reported the initial Abu Dhabi understanding. The next stated step is to settle the exchange's size on Thursday, Nov. 12; no transfer date has been announced.
