Russia, Ukraine agree to prisoner swap, at end of first meeting in 9 months between warring sides

Negotiators trying to help end the Russia-Ukraine war said Wednesday the sides have agreed to large exchange of prisoners of war.

“One of the positives is we agreed that we’re going to have the biggest humanitarian release of prisoners, which we’re going to finalize the numbers tomorrow,” Jared Kushner, President Donald Trump’s son-in-law, said after the two days of U.S.-led talks in Abu Dhabi ended.

Vladimir Medinsky, who led the Russian delegation, and Rustem Umerov, who led Ukraine's delegation, confirmed the planned exchange, according to the Associated Press. 

The meeting between the sides was the first in nine months. Russia and Ukraine have previously exchanged prisoners during their roughly 12-year-long war that was escalated by Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.