Ukraine and Russia swapped more than 300 prisoners following “productive” talks in Abu Dhabi yesterday, while a US mediator conceded that “significant” work lay ahead in the quest for a broader deal to end the war.
As talks were underway, large swathes of the Ukrainian capital were still without heating in sub-zero temperatures, after successive Russian strikes knocked out energy supplies to hundreds of apartment blocks in Kyiv.
“Today, delegations from the United States, Ukraine and Russia agreed to exchange 314 prisoners — the first such exchange in five months,” US special envoy Steve Witkoff said.
Photo: Qatari Ministry of Foreign Affairs / AFP
The Russian Ministry of Defense confirmed the two sides changed 157 prisoners each.
While Witkoff described the negotiations as “detailed and productive,” he dimmed hopes for a breakthrough, saying “significant work remains.”
Kyiv had described the first day of negotiations as “substantive and productive,” while Russian negotiator Kirill Dmitriev said talks were going well.
“There is definitely progress, things are moving forward in a good, positive direction,” Dmitriev said.
There was no update on the contentious issue of territory, or any sign of concessions from Moscow, which entered the talks refusing to compromise on its key demands.
Dmitriev also slammed what he called attempts from European nations to “disrupt the progress,” without elaborating.
Ahead of the two-day talks, Russia launched a massive attack on Ukraine’s power infrastructure, leaving many people without power and shivering through temperatures as low as minus-20°C.
Ukraine’s chief negotiator, Rustem Umerov, said “concrete steps and practical solutions” had been discussed in the first day of the talks.
However, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said fighting would persist “until the Kyiv regime makes the appropriate decisions.”
The main sticking point in the negotiations is the long-term fate of territory in eastern Ukraine.
Moscow is demanding that Kyiv pull its troops out of swathes of the Donbas, including heavily fortified cities atop vast natural resources, before any deal.
It also wants international recognition that land seized in the invasion belongs to Russia.
Kyiv has said the conflict should be frozen along the current front line and rejected a pull-back of forces.
US President Donald Trump has been pushing both sides to negotiate an end to the war since he returned to office.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said Trump’s role was crucial, saying “Putin is only scared of Trump.”
Trump could use economic sanctions against Russia or transfer weapons to Ukraine to “maintain this pressure on Putin,” Zelenskiy said, adding that Kyiv would not compromise on sovereignty.
Ukraine has warned that ceding ground would embolden Moscow, and that it would not sign a deal that fails to deter Russia from invading again.
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