Abu Dhabi Talks Bearing Fruit: Over 300 Russian, Ukrainian POWs Swapped

US-brokered Ukraine and Russia negotiations in the United Arab Emirates – specifically Abu Dhabi – have already borne some fruit as the warring sides Thursday reached an agreement to exchange 314 prisoners of war.

US special envoy Steve Witkoff confirmed the prisoner deal in a post on X, explaining that while “significant work remains, steps like this demonstrate that sustained diplomatic engagement is delivering tangible results and advancing efforts to end the war in Ukraine.”

Russian negotiator Kirill Dmitriev told state media that “things are moving forward in a good, positive direction.” But he at the same time blasted European nations for seeking to “disrupt the progress” and “meddle” in the process.

Despite the positive and tangible development of a large prisoner exchange, there’s no apparent progress on the big issues and questions which might actually end the war – namely territory. 

Moscow is still demanding that Ukraine cede portions of the Donbass region that Ukrainian forces still control, but Zelensky’s refusal means that Moscow is ready to settle the issue on the battlefield.

President Zelensky is meanwhile pushing for more and more from Europe, including ‘closing the skies’: 

He said that all security guarantees given to Ukraine would strengthen the security of this part of Europe, and insisted there should be no reward for the Russian aggression.

Zelenskyy said that Kyiv was ready to swap its drones for air defence missiles and Polish MiG-29 fighter jets, Reuters reported, and that the two countries also discussed the development of power grid connectivity between them.

Responding, Poland’s Tusk said he wanted to be in Kyiv, “because this is the place on the world map where all people see very clearly, as if through a magnifying glass, what is good and what is evil.”

While Poland has yet to agree to the maximalist ‘asks’ – Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk has announced his country is preparing a new €47m aid package for Ukraine, mainly focused on armored equipment.

It was starting Wednesday that American, Ukrainian and Russian representatives gathered the UAE for this current round of trilateral talks in an effort to forge a final peace. President Trump earlier this week praised Putin for agreeing to a very temporary pause on attacking Kiev.