Russia, Ukraine conclude Abu Dhabi talks with prisoner exchange as negotiations set to continue

ABU DHABI -- Trilateral talks involving Russia, the United States and Ukraine ended on Wednesday in Abu Dhabi, with Russia and Ukraine reaching an agreement on a "large-scale" prisoner exchange.

Vladimir Medinsky, head of the Russian delegation at talks on the Ukraine crisis, told a press conference that details of the exchange would be announced soon and that negotiations would continue.

He said the delegations had discussed humanitarian issues, with the future of European security being a central focus of the US-mediated talks.

Medinsky added that parties had reached understandings on some issues, without providing further details.

He defended the need to discuss post-war security arrangements at the current stage of negotiations, saying the conflict in Ukraine had exposed shortcomings in Europe's security system.

Medinsky called for the establishment of a fair security framework that takes into account the interests of all countries.

Meanwhile, Jared Kushner, a member of the US negotiating team, told reporters that the prisoner exchange deal was one of the positive outcomes of the negotiations, with the exact number of prisoners to be finalized on Thursday.

He said he and US special envoy Steve Witkoff planned to travel to Moscow for further discussions on ending the Ukraine conflict.

Kushner said the two would seek progress in Moscow if Russian President Vladimir Putin agreed to US demands to end the war, and would meet Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky afterward.

Kushner added that Russia had its own security concerns and had been asked to put forward proposals to reduce tensions.

NATO and European countries would be part of the negotiating process, he said, adding that European representatives had been brought into the Abu Dhabi discussions.

The latest round of trilateral talks lasted two days and marked the first meeting among the three countries since February.