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Three-way talks between Russia, Ukraine and the United States concluded in Abu Dhabi on 11 November with an agreement in principle to carry out a large-scale prisoner exchange, the head of the Russian delegation announced at a press conference following the second day of negotiations.
Vladimir Medinsky, who led the Russian delegation, said the two-day meeting — held on 10 and 11 November — was the first trilateral contact between the three parties since February. The second session lasted close to two hours.
“We have reached a principled agreement on a new large-scale prisoner exchange,” Medinsky said. “Its specific terms will be announced in the near future.” He added that the parties had exchanged positions across a range of issues, reaching mutual understanding on some while disagreements persisted on others. He described European security architecture as the central topic of the talks and confirmed that negotiations would continue.
Ukraine had not issued any official statement on the outcome of the talks or on the prisoner-exchange agreement as of the time of reporting.
Witkoff and Kushner to Travel to Moscow
Separately, US President Donald Trump’s special envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner are scheduled to travel to Moscow on 12 November, according to information disclosed by Kushner. After their visit to Russia, the two envoys plan to meet Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Dublin.
The Abu Dhabi meeting marked a notable step in diplomatic activity around the war in Ukraine, bringing representatives of all three countries to the same table for the first time in months. Whether the prisoner-exchange agreement will translate into a broader ceasefire framework remains unclear, with Medinsky’s remarks underscoring that significant gaps between the parties remain unresolved.