Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, during a meeting with American representatives in Dublin, announced the largest prisoner-of-war exchange in history between Ukraine and Russia. The head of state announced this while speaking to the press, RBC-Ukraine reports, citing the Office of the President. According to Zelenskyy, following the Russian side, the American side has also confirmed the deal, and the format of the exchange, in his estimation, will be unprecedented in scale.
Meeting in Dublin: Results of the Moscow Visit
Zelenskyy's contact with US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner took place at Casement Aerodrome in Baldonnel, west of Dublin, Ireland. The meeting occurred after Witkoff and Kushner returned from talks in Moscow, where they met with Russian President Vladimir Putin on November 12. According to Vedomosti, during the Moscow meeting, Putin stated that territorial issues regarding the situation around Ukraine are raised from various sides, but people matter more to Russia. Following this, Witkoff also announced the largest prisoner exchange in history between Russia and Ukraine.
"The Largest Exchange": What Zelenskyy Said
"First, the result is very important, and now, following Russia, the American side has also confirmed that we will exchange prisoners of war. As Steve and Jared told me, this will be the largest prisoner of war exchange," Zelenskyy stated. Thus, according to him, both sides of the conflict and the mediating American side agreed that the exchange will take place, and its scale will be the largest in the entire history of the confrontation. Earlier, Witkoff reported that he planned to discuss the results of the talks with Putin with Zelenskyy and persuade him to choose the path of ending the war.
Context: Negotiations in Abu Dhabi
The announcement of the prisoner exchange came against the backdrop of recent trilateral negotiations in Abu Dhabi, which took place on November 10–11 with the participation of the US, Russia, and Ukraine, aimed at finding paths to peace. Following the talks, the sides reported that they managed to successfully discuss only the future security architecture of Europe. The Ukrainian side stated that Russia brought rigid directives to the negotiations in which "there is no room for bargaining," while representatives of each side continued to speak about "positive signals" and hopes for progress in the dialogue. On November 10, Zelenskyy noted that the issue of exchanging prisoners in a "1000 for 1000" or even "1500 for 1500" format was discussed with Moscow at the Abu Dhabi talks.
Previous Exchanges and the European Vector
The new announcement continues a series of prisoner-of-war exchanges carried out against the backdrop of the negotiation process. The previous exchange between Ukraine and Russia took place on October 23: 270 Ukrainians returned home — 261 military personnel and nine civilians, including defenders of Mariupol, as well as five who were previously considered killed as a result of the Olenivka terrorist attack. Even earlier, on March 5, the parties carried out an exchange in a 200 for 200 format. According to media reports, representatives of European countries, in particular Germany, France, and Great Britain, were also supposed to join the Dublin meeting with Zelenskyy, indicating the desire to synchronize the negotiating positions of Kyiv, Washington, and key European capitals.
