US Presidential Special Envoys for Settlement Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner have begun preparing what the White House calls potentially the largest prisoner exchange between Ukraine and Russia since the start of the full-scale invasion. According to RBC-Ukraine, this was announced on the social network X by White House Deputy Press Secretary Anna Kelly, who published a summary of the negotiating group's work this week.
A «Historic» Round in Abu Dhabi
According to Kelly, this week Witkoff and Kushner held what the White House characterizes as a «historic trilateral round» in Abu Dhabi. As stated, during these contacts the American special envoys met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Russian leader Vladimir Putin. The publication separately emphasizes that the team also ensured the participation of European partners in future rounds of discussions, which Washington intends should broaden the circle of parties involved in the negotiation process.
Priority of the Week: Prisoner Exchange
The central element of the statement was the initiative to exchange detainees. «At the direction of President Trump, Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner have been actively working with both sides of the Russia-Ukraine war to finally bring this conflict to an end, … and have begun work on what could become the largest prisoner exchange of the war,» Kelly's wording is quoted. Specific figures, the composition of the lists, and the timing of the exchange are not disclosed in the published statement: it is about the start of the preparatory phase, not an agreed-upon date for the deal.
White House Assessment: «Encouraging Progress»
The deputy press secretary summarized the week's results as «encouraging progress toward peace.» Such rhetoric is typical for public summaries by the US administration regarding negotiation tracks and aims to demonstrate momentum, although by itself it does not confirm that an agreement on the exchange has been reached. The statement is unilateral and originates exclusively from the American side.
Context and Degree of Verification
At the time of publication, the information relies on a single primary source—a social media post by a White House representative, retold by RBC-Ukraine. Neither the Russian nor the Ukrainian side in the provided materials gave independent confirmation of the scale of the upcoming exchange. Therefore, the news should be viewed as Washington's announcement of the start of work, rather than a fixed fact of a concluded agreement. The lack of independent verification and details (number of participants, mechanism, timeframe) limits the degree of reliability to the level of «confirmed with reservations».
What's Next
A key consequence of the stated initiative is the involvement of European partners in future discussions, which could change the negotiation format and add a multilateral component to the bilateral track. Further dynamics will depend on whether Moscow and Kyiv confirm their readiness for an exchange on the stated scale and whether the sides disclose list details. Until such signals appear from all sides, the initiative remains at the announcement and preparation stage.
