FACTS
Two days of U.S.-brokered Ukraine peace talks in Abu Dhabi ended Nov. 11 with Russia and Ukraine agreeing to a large exchange of prisoners of war but no major breakthrough, the Associated Press reported. U.S. envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner met Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow on Nov. 12. A Kremlin adviser called that meeting “very substantive, constructive, frank and productive.”
What came out of the Ukraine peace talks in Abu Dhabi
The talks in the United Arab Emirates on Nov. 10 and 11 were the first meeting of the Russian and Ukrainian delegations in nine months, according to the AP report published by PBS NewsHour. Vladimir Medinsky led Russia’s delegation and Rustem Umerov led Ukraine’s. Representatives of European governments, the European Union and NATO were in Abu Dhabi but did not join the three-way sessions.
The two sides did not disclose how many prisoners would be exchanged. Medinsky said the agreement was “in principle.” Alexander Zorin of Russia’s General Staff said the swap could take place within two to three weeks.
Kushner said there is “no trust right now between the sides,” which he called expected after such a conflict. He wrote on X that the exchange would “reunite families, build trust and create momentum toward peace.”
What each side said
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, speaking in Dublin, called the exchange a positive step but said Ukraine will not give up occupied territory for peace. “Ending this war without Europe’s participation would be unjust, and it would be impossible,” he said, according to the AP.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said European representatives could eventually join the talks, but that their statements so far show no desire to help move toward peace.
The AP listed the main unresolved issues as security guarantees after the war, control of Russian-occupied Ukrainian territory, Europe’s role in a settlement, and Moscow’s demand that NATO pull troops back from Russia’s borders.
The Moscow meeting with Putin
After Witkoff and Kushner met Putin on Nov. 12, Kremlin foreign policy adviser Yury Ushakov said the sides discussed a proposed humanitarian operation in the city of Konstantinovka, long-term European security arrangements, and the timing of elections in Ukraine, according to a Kremlin statement. He said Russia is “ready to begin demining operations immediately.” Ushakov said the proposal was modeled on the arrangement in Oleshky, a Russian-held town in the Kherson region where a local truce took effect in late October, as Stay Current News reported.
Ushakov said the planned prisoner exchange “would likely be the largest to date” and that its details are still being finalized. He said Europeans must decide “whether they want peace or the continuation of the war,” and he criticized plans to deploy European forces in Ukraine after a ceasefire.
Ushakov said the U.S. envoys were traveling to Dublin to meet Zelenskyy and European officials. He also said preparations are under way for a meeting between Putin and President Donald Trump on the sidelines of the APEC summit in Shenzhen, China.
Fighting continues
The AP reported that little territory has changed hands on the front line this year. A Russian attack on a market in the Odesa region killed three people and injured 11, and Russia’s Defense Ministry said it downed 627 Ukrainian drones overnight.
