From Abu Dhabi: Moscow Announces Prisoner Swap Agreement with Kyiv

Vladimir Medinsky, head of the Russian negotiating delegation, announced on Wednesday that Russia and Ukraine had agreed during talks in Abu Dhabi to a broad prisoner exchange, the details of which will be announced shortly, and he affirmed that negotiations between the two sides would continue.

Medinsky, an aide to Russian President Vladimir Putin, said at a press conference in Abu Dhabi that the two delegations had discussed humanitarian issues, and that the future of security in Europe had been the focus of the negotiations mediated by the United States.

He pointed to an understanding on certain issues, without specifying them.

Medinsky defended the proposal to place security arrangements to follow the war on the negotiating table now, arguing that the war in Ukraine had exposed shortcomings in the European security architecture. He called for the construction of a fair security system that takes into account the interests of all countries.

Kyiv insists on a different arrangement. According to a source in the Ukrainian delegation, Ukraine wants a ceasefire and security guarantees before discussing European security arrangements, while Moscow calls for those arrangements to be discussed first.

Medinsky confirmed that his delegation had not held talks with European Union representatives in Abu Dhabi, and that Moscow had not received any peace proposal from the EU.