Zelensky Says POW Swap With Russia Near After U.S.-Brokered Talks in Abu Dhabi

ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Wednesday that negotiators in Abu Dhabi have laid the groundwork for a near-term exchange of prisoners of war with Russia, calling it a “significant step” in a U.S.-brokered diplomatic effort that has so far delivered more on humanitarian relief than on a broader peace.

“We expect an exchange of prisoners of war in the near future,” Zelensky said in his evening address from Kyiv after receiving a report from his team in the United Arab Emirates. “Captives must be brought home.”

His comments came after the first day of a second round of trilateral talks bringing together delegations from Ukraine, Russia and the United States under Emirati mediation. The meetings opened Feb. 4 and were due to continue through Feb. 5 at Al Shati Palace in Abu Dhabi.

Framework for a swap, but no public details

While details of the prospective swap have not been made public and no joint communiqué has been issued, Ukrainian officials and several international outlets described an agreement in principle to resume large-scale exchanges that have been frozen for months. Officials have so far characterized the outcome as a political framework and commitment, not a completed deal with published figures or lists of names.

The prisoner discussions are part of a wider agenda that includes the most sensitive issues of the war: the future of Russian-occupied territory, control of strategic infrastructure such as the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, and the shape of any security guarantees for Ukraine if the fighting stops.

Rustem Umerov, secretary of Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council and head of the Ukrainian delegation, said the Abu Dhabi meetings were “substantive and productive” and would continue in specialized working groups. Russia’s team is led by Igor Kostyukov, chief of the GRU military intelligence agency. The U.S. side is headed by presidential envoy Steve Witkoff, joined by senior adviser Jared Kushner, in a process strongly identified with President Donald Trump’s promise to “end the war.”

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov confirmed before the talks that the second round would be held in Abu Dhabi on Wednesday and Thursday and noted “some progress” after the first session in January, while stressing that Russian military operations would continue until Kyiv takes what Moscow calls the “necessary decisions” to end the conflict.

A rare public, three-way channel

The Abu Dhabi channel marks the first openly acknowledged, U.S.-brokered, three-way format involving Russia and Ukraine since early attempts at talks near the outset of the full-scale invasion in February 2022. The first round, held Jan. 23–24 in the Emirati capital, was described by all sides as constructive but ended without a breakthrough on territory.

Emirati officials have framed the talks as an extension of a longer humanitarian mediation effort. The UAE Foreign Ministry says Abu Dhabi has helped arrange 17 prisoner exchanges between Russia and Ukraine since 2022, contributing to the release of 4,641 detainees from both sides. The country has also hosted at least one high-profile prisoner swap between Russia and the United States.

“Hosting these talks reflects the international community’s confidence in the UAE’s role in supporting peace and stability,” Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan said when the trilateral process was announced in January.

For Ukraine, the prospect of a new exchange is particularly significant because prisoner swaps largely stalled in late 2025. Zelensky said last week that Russia had effectively halted exchanges, arguing that Moscow believed the trades favored Kyiv and brought it little advantage.

Over nearly four years of full-scale war, Ukraine says it has brought home more than 6,000 people from Russian captivity through formal exchanges and other channels. The International Committee of the Red Cross, which visits detention sites where it is granted access, reported in November that it had seen nearly 7,700 prisoners of war on both sides but warned that many captives remain beyond its reach.

Previous large exchanges have become defining public moments of the war in both Russia and Ukraine, with video of emaciated soldiers stepping off buses and reuniting with relatives circulating widely on social media and television. Human rights groups and former prisoners have documented harsh conditions, including inadequate medical care, overcrowding and abuse.

Talks amid battlefield escalation and arms-control worries

The new talks in Abu Dhabi are taking place against a harsh military backdrop. The second round opened days after one of the winter’s largest waves of Russian missile and drone attacks on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure and urban centers, strikes that Ukrainian authorities said killed at least several people in the Donetsk region and left thousands without heat in subfreezing temperatures.

The diplomacy also coincides with the scheduled Feb. 5 expiry of New START, the last remaining nuclear arms control treaty between the United States and Russia, raising fears of a new arms race and underscoring the value of any functioning channels between the two nuclear powers.

Despite the progress on prisoners, there is little sign of convergence on the core political issues that will determine whether the war can end.

Russian officials have repeatedly said they seek full control of the Donetsk region, large portions of which remain under Ukrainian control, as well as formalization of Moscow’s authority over other territories it has claimed to annex, including parts of the Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions. They also want Kyiv to relinquish control of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant, which Russian forces seized early in the invasion.

Ukraine has consistently rejected any settlement that recognizes changes to its internationally recognized borders. In comments linked to the Abu Dhabi process, Zelensky said discussions with Russia remain blocked on the central point.

“It’s all about the land,” he told one interviewer. “This is the issue which is not solved yet.”

Kyiv is also demanding concrete, enforceable security guarantees to deter any renewed Russian attack after a cease-fire, ranging from foreign military deployments on its soil to binding defense commitments. Russian officials have said they will not accept NATO or other foreign troops in Ukraine as part of a deal.

U.S. framework, Emirati mediation, and cautious expectations

The U.S. administration has been working for more than a year on a multi-point peace framework presented as a basis for the Abu Dhabi talks. People familiar with the process say an original 28-point draft was narrowed to around 19 points focused on Ukraine-specific issues, while broader questions such as sanctions relief and NATO’s future posture were left for separate discussions. Some Ukrainian and European officials have criticized earlier versions of the U.S. plan as appearing to lean toward Russian territorial demands, a charge U.S. officials have denied.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio has emphasized the technical depth of the Abu Dhabi meetings, noting the presence of military and legal experts in the delegations as a sign the parties are engaging on concrete mechanisms as well as political principles.

For the United Arab Emirates, hosting the first public three-way talks on the war and facilitating a new POW arrangement reinforces its bid to be seen as a neutral problem-solver between rival powers well beyond its immediate region. The Gulf state has maintained close economic ties with Russia throughout the conflict while remaining a key security partner for the United States.

For now, expectations are deliberately modest. Diplomats involved in the process describe the POW discussions as a confidence-building measure designed to show that cooperation is possible even as fighting continues.

Whether that humanitarian track can widen into a path toward a broader settlement remains unclear. The war is approaching its fourth anniversary with front lines largely static but casualty counts rising, and with both Kyiv and Moscow signaling that they are not ready to back off their fundamental demands.

If the emerging agreement does lead to a major exchange in the coming weeks, it will change the lives of hundreds of families and demonstrate that, even at a time of collapsing arms control regimes and heavy bombardment, adversaries can still strike limited deals. What it has not yet done is answer the question that hangs over the halls of Al Shati Palace: how, and on whose terms, the largest conflict in Europe in generations will finally end.