Russia, Ukraine and USA agreed on large-scale prisoner exchange in Abu Dhabi

The second round of negotiations held between the delegations of Russia, the USA and Ukraine in Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), has ended.

According to the news of Reuters agency, the second day of the negotiations started at 11.40 Türkiye time.

The meeting, which was held in a closed-door format, lasted approximately two hours.

The head of the Russian delegation and Vice President Vladimir Medinskiy announced at the press conference at the summit that the main agenda item of the talks in Abu Dhabi was security architecture.

According to Medinskiy's statement, Russia and Ukraine agreed on a comprehensive prisoner exchange; The framework of the swap will be announced soon, but concrete details of the negotiation process will not be shared with the public until final agreements are reached.

According to the TASS agency, First Deputy Chief of Information Administration of the Russian General Staff, Aleksandr Zorin, said that the prisoner exchange between Russia and Ukraine will be the largest-scale exchange to date, involving more than a thousand people from both sides, and could take place in the next two to three weeks.

David Arahamiya, Group Chairman of the Servant of the People Party in the Verhovna Rada of the Ukrainian parliament and a member of the Ukrainian delegation participating in the negotiations in Abu Dhabi, pointed out at the press conference that "good momentum has been achieved to reach a decision before the new year" regarding the solution of the conflict in Ukraine.

According to Politico, citing sources including American officials, the parties planned to discuss territorial issues and a number of other issues, including borders and lines of contact, today.

The head of the Ukrainian delegation and the head of the Foreign Intelligence Service, Rustem Umerov, stated that after the tripartite meeting, Ukrainians will hold meetings with European partners.

The US President's special representatives, Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff, will travel to Moscow tomorrow, where they plan to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin and discuss the results of the negotiations in Abu Dhabi.

Kremlin Spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said that Putin received information about the course of the negotiations. Peskov stated that Putin had already discussed the issue with Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko.

According to the statements of the Russian leader's press secretary, the Russian delegation did not have any contact with the Europeans during the negotiations with Ukraine and the USA and such contact is not planned.

Medinskiy, on the other hand, stated that Europe can be a part of peace negotiations "only when its conscience awakens", and that it is currently "complicit in the death of civilians" in Ukraine.

The first day of tripartite negotiations between Russia, Ukraine and the USA was held in Abu Dhabi on November 10. The first day's meeting lasted 4.5 hours, including breaks.

While the Russian and Ukrainian delegations communicated with each other in Russian, it was stated that the negotiations would definitely continue on Wednesday, November 11.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio described the talks as "extremely productive" but ruled out the possibility of resolving the conflict in the next day.

According to Rubio's statement, Washington's goal is to "expand the tripartite format at a certain stage", that is, to include the Europeans in the negotiation process.

Jared Kushner, the US President's special representative, stated that the US was "encouraged by the constructive discussions held today" and that they continued to work to end the conflict in Ukraine and establish security mechanisms for lasting peace throughout Europe.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy evaluated the meeting with the words, "Our business with the Russians is difficult." "They are, to put it mildly, not our best friends," Zelenskiy said in his statement to the press.

Zelenskiy had also clarified that this round of negotiations focused mainly on humanitarian issues and that the priority for Ukraine was the return of prisoners of war.

Zelenskiy later shared the following on his Telegram channel: "The tripartite format was constructive and quite comprehensive. We had the opportunity to discuss the necessity and possible framework of humanitarian steps. The release of prisoners is a priority. We talked in detail about the content of Ukraine's security guarantees and the basis of their long-term functioning. There is a need for real tools to prevent any recurrence of the war. The issue of the necessity of steps to reduce tension was also on the agenda."

In addition, the Russian delegation did not make a statement to the press after the first day of the negotiations. At the beginning of the negotiations, Medinskiy thanked the UAE for its hospitality and the United States for its efforts to ensure peace. Umerov also announced that Zelenskiy authorized the tripartite meeting to discuss all issues.