Relatives of Ukrainian prisoners of war await the arrival of their exchanged loved ones in Chernihiv, Ukraine, 2 October 2025. Photo: EPA / Maria Senovilla
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky announced that Russia and Ukraine would conduct their first prisoner of war exchange in four months following a second round of US-mediated talks between delegations from Moscow and Kyiv in Abu Dhabi on Wednesday.
In his nightly address to Ukrainians, Zelensky said the two sides had agreed on “a significant step: we expect a POW exchange in the near future.” The last such swap took place in October, with both sides exchanging 185 captured soldiers and Russia also returning 20 civilians to Ukraine.
Ukrainian National Security and Defence Council Secretary Rustem Umerov, Kyiv’s lead negotiator, described Wednesday’s trilateral talks as “substantive and productive”, adding that they had been “focused on concrete steps and practical solutions”.
Ahead of the talks, which are due to continue on Thursday, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said that while the “doors for a peaceful settlement” were open from Moscow’s perspective, “until the appropriate decisions are taken by the Kiev regime”, Russia would continue its war.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio told reporters on Wednesday that the “checklist of open items” between Russia and Ukraine had been “substantially diminished” following recent diplomatic efforts as Washington pushes for a deal to end the war.
“That’s the good news,” Rubio said at a press briefing. “The bad news is that the items that remain are the most difficult ones. And, meanwhile, the war continues.”
This week’s talks come as Russia resumed its attacks on Ukraine following a brief US-backed pause in strikes on energy infrastructure, with Kyiv adjusting the mandate of its negotiating team following devastating Russian airstrikes on its energy facilities during record low winter temperatures on Tuesday.
On Wednesday, the authorities in Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk region said that the Russian military had used cluster munitions to strike a busy market in the city of Druzhkivka, killing seven people and injuring at least another 15.
