US-brokered talks yield huge POW exchange, but Ukraine peace stalls

Two days of U.S.-mediated talks in Abu Dhabi ended Wednesday with Russia and Ukraine agreeing to a large prisoner-of-war exchange — the first meeting between the delegations in nine months. Jared Kushner, President Trump's son-in-law and one of two senior American negotiators, said the sides agreed on the release and will pin down the exact numbers Thursday. Russian delegation head Vladimir Medinsky and Ukraine's Rustem Umerov both confirmed the planned swap. Moscow's demand that its seizure of a huge chunk of eastern Ukraine be recognized as legitimate still stands in the way of anything bigger.

Kushner and U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff fly to Moscow on Thursday to meet President Vladimir Putin, then head to Dublin to see Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Putin's senior aide Yuri Ushakov told reporters the Americans arrive Thursday morning and will sit down with Putin in the first half of the day. Ushakov said Moscow hasn't fully digested the Abu Dhabi results, but added that Russia believes Kushner and Witkoff are bringing something with them.

Zelenskyy said Tuesday's session was constructive and substantive, but he pushed back on what he described as a U.S. request for Ukraine to accept territorial concessions in return for security guarantees weaker than the NATO membership he has long demanded. The Ukrainian leader pointed to the Donbas, largely though not entirely occupied by Russia, and said he does not believe Putin will stop if it is handed over. Medinsky told Russia's Vesti program the sides had moved closer to peace, though much depends on Kyiv, Washington and on whether Europe, in his words, comes to its senses.

Washington says it is determined to revive its peace push. Secretary of State Marco Rubio called Tuesday's meeting very productive while cautioning that a breakthrough on stopping the war will take time. The backdrop has shifted since the last round in Geneva in February: Democrats, who could press for more support for Ukraine, take over Congress in January after the midterms, Russia's wartime economy is under heavy strain, and Ukraine is reeling from attacks on its power grid. Moscow doesn't want European countries at the table, but representatives of European governments, the EU and NATO were in Abu Dhabi and consulted with the Ukrainian delegation.

The talks have centered on humanitarian issues — prisoners, Ukrainian civilians in captivity and children taken from the country, according to Zelenskyy. On the battlefield, nothing paused. Russian strikes overnight hit the southern Zaporizhzhia region and the eastern city of Kharkiv, wounding seven civilians. A strike on a busy market in the southern Odesa region killed three people and injured 11, regional governor Oleh Kiper said.

Russia's Defense Ministry said its air defenses downed 627 Ukrainian drones overnight, 150 of them around St. Petersburg, according to regional Gov. Alexander Drozdenko. He said the drones sparked a fire at the port of Ust-Luga, a major Russian oil export hub, injuring three workers. Little territory has changed hands this year as both countries hammer each other with long-range missiles and drones.