Zelensky announces “the largest prisoner exchange since the beginning of the war”

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky announced late Thursday into Friday that, following the peace negotiations in Abu Dhabi, as well as the meeting between the American envoys and Vladimir Putin at the Kremlin, an agreement had been reached on the largest prisoner exchange and on the presence of Europeans at the discussions on ending the war.

American envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Dublin, after talks with Vladimir Putin at the Kremlin. The meeting took place in the context of renewed diplomatic contacts between Moscow and Kyiv and the United States’ efforts to facilitate negotiations to end the war in Ukraine.

In Dublin, Zelensky stated that Europe would participate directly in future negotiations and would have an equal role at the discussion table.

“First of all, a humanitarian result – prisoners will be released, and we are counting on the largest prisoner exchange since the beginning of this war. The second result – we are involving European representatives more actively in diplomacy, so that they can have an equal seat at the negotiating table. Ukraine always defends the interests of all of Europe. Thirdly, we are also preparing other multilateral meetings. Diplomacy will remain active,” Volodymyr Zelensky wrote on X.

Zelensky did not specify the number of prisoners covered by the exchange. However, he had previously stated that, during the negotiations, the possibility of an exchange involving 1,000 or 1,500 people from each side had been discussed. Russian officials announced that the operation would involve more than 1,000 people from each side.

On 10–11 November 2026, the first direct Russian-Ukrainian negotiations after a pause of approximately nine months took place in Abu Dhabi.

The United States and Ukraine proposed appointing a single European representative to participate in the peace negotiations. Witkoff confirmed that Putin had accepted Europe’s involvement in the diplomatic process. He also announced preparations for a new meeting.