Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said Russia has agreed to a prisoner exchange that would be the largest between the two countries to date, describing it as a “real result” of ongoing negotiations.
Speaking to reporters on Thursday after meeting US President Donald Trump’s Special Envoy Steve Witkoff and his son-in-law Jared Kushner in Dublin, Zelenskyy said the Russian side had agreed to the exchange.
“It will be the biggest exchange of war prisoners ... This is a real result. This is very important,” he said.
Referring to progress made during talks in Abu Dhabi, Zelenskyy said the latest meeting had given “hope” that the war could be brought to an end.
He said further meetings were expected, adding that each round of negotiations should deliver concrete results and bring the parties closer to ending the conflict.
Ukraine wants Europeans to take part, Russia rejects
Zelenskyy also said European representatives would take part in the next round as members of the negotiating team, rather than participating separately.
“They will have a voice. This is important for us because the war is in Europe, we will be a member of the EU in the future. That's why it's very important. And for prosperity and for security guarantees, it's very important to have Europe,” he said.
Kremlin did not confirm President Putin had agreed to include Europe in future talks.
Instead, the Russian leader had earlier told the US duo he would not water down demands to control parts of Ukraine that Russia claims to have annexed and ruled out agreeing to foreign peacekeeping troops in Ukraine — a deployment he said would be a "continuation of war".
