Russia and Ukraine just discussed a huge prisoner swap
Ukraine and Russia just sat down in Abu Dhabi.
And they talked about swapping 1,000 to 1,500 prisoners of war each.
Volodymyr Zelensky, Ukraine's President, gave those numbers himself. He said it a few hours ago, at a press conference in Copenhagen, right after the first day of talks wrapped up.
So what actually got agreed? Nothing yet. Both numbers are still on the table. No final figure.
Here's why this meeting matters. It's the first time Ukraine, Russia and the United States have sat down together since February.
Ukraine sent Rustem Umerov, the head of its Foreign Intelligence Service. Russia sent Vladimir Medinsky, an aide to Vladimir Putin. America sent two of Donald Trump's senior envoys, Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner.
The talks ran about four hours, with a break in the middle.
Zelensky says American officials will now travel to Russia to keep working the prisoner deal. Still open: who's actually on the list, whether this happens all at once or in stages, and when.
One Ukrainian source told Ukrainska Pravda and Interfax-Ukraine that a large-scale exchange has been agreed in principle. No numbers, no date.
But here's the gap. A source inside the Russian delegation told the state broadcaster Rossiya 1 not to get ahead of confirmed statements.
So Kyiv sounds confident. Moscow sounds a lot more careful.
And then there's the thing nobody expected in that room. Territory.
Russia's delegation raised the territorial question during the talks.
Zelensky's answer? That's not for negotiators. That's a decision for national leaders. Even though his own team does hold a mandate to discuss it.
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