Ukraine and Russia have conducted a rare exchange of prisoners of war and civilians after two days of US-brokered peace talks in Abu Dhabi.
A total of 157 Ukrainians - seven of them civilians - and 157 Russian soldiers were returned home in the first such swap in four months.
Russian, Ukrainian and US teams took part in the talks in the capital of the United Arab Emirates, with the main sticking points believed to be territorial concessions Ukraine is under pressure to make and security guarantees for it to prevent further Russian attacks if a deal is agreed to end the four-year war.
No breakthrough has been reported. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said the talks had not been easy and he wanted faster results.
In a post on social media, Zelensky wrote that Thursday's prisoner exchange took place after a long pause - referring to the previous such swap last October. We are returning our people home - 157 Ukrainians. Soldiers of the Armed Forces, National Guard, State Border Service. And civilians are also returning with the defenders. Most have been in captivity since 2012, the Ukrainian president said, pledging to bring back every single Ukrainian still in Russian captivity.
Ukrainian officials stated that 139 had been in Russian captivity since 2022. Meanwhile, the Russian defense ministry claimed that 157 of its POWs were returned by Kyiv, alongside three Russian civilians that were reportedly illegally held.
The trilateral peace discussions follow a renewed wave of Russian attacks on Ukraine and underline the complex dynamics at play in securing a lasting resolution to the conflict. Major disputes are centered around territorial integrity of Ukraine and demands for substantial security assurances from Western allies.
