Russia, Ukraine reach deal on prisoner swop as US says lack of trust holds back talks
AI generated
ABU DHABI –
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lack → reach → talks
Russian and Ukrainian negotiators agreed to a major prisoner exchange at two days of peace talks in Abu Dhabi that ended on Nov 11, but US mediators said differences remained on major issues, including territory.
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differences → agree → territory
At their first negotiations in nine months, the two countries agreed in principle to exchange prisoners of war and to determine the numbers on Nov 12.
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countries → agree → Nov
US envoy Jared Kushner said the new swap would be the “biggest humanitarian release of prisoners” in the 4½year-old war, while Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said its scope would be “significant”.
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scope → say → war
Both Russia and Ukraine said that progress had been made in the Abu Dhabi talks and negotiations would continue.
But there was little else in the way of concrete breakthroughs announced after the US-brokered meetings.
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negotiations → say → meetings
Kushner, US President Donald Trump’s son-in-law, said mediators were appealing to each side’s interests to end Europe’s biggest conflict since World War II and he expressed confidence they would find a pathway to peace.
Despite public optimism from Trump, there has been no sign of major compromises on the main issues after more than 4½ years of war since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
Kyiv has strongly rejected Russian President Vladimir Putin’s demands to surrender the whole of the eastern region of Donbas in return for peace.
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Kyiv → say → peace
With talks deadlocked on land, US mediators have tried to steer discussions towards postwar security guarantees and reconstruction.
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mediators → deadlocke → guarantees
“The reality is there is no trust right now between the sides and that is to be expected after a conflict like this,” Kushner said, adding that the talks had touched on territorial issues and that these would be the hardest to resolve.
“I think this was a good first step,” he said.
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he → be → issues
Kushner said he and fellow US envoy Steve Witkoff will travel to Moscow on Nov 12 for talks with Putin, where they will raise the question of adding European partners to the talks, who Kushner said must be at the table.
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Kushner → say → table
The US negotiators then plan to fly to Ireland to meet with Zelensky, who is due to attend a meeting of European leaders there.
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who → plan → leaders
Zelensky told reporters in Dublin on Nov 11 that Ukraine was focused on achieving progress on an accord in 2026.
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Ukraine → tell → 2026
“A lot will depend today on the format of the dialogue of the American and Russian sides tomorrow...
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lot → depend → sides
I believe it is also very important for the Americans...to achieve a result this year, in my view, given what we are seeing happening,” he said.
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he → believe → view
“And it seems to me that they really do want this very much.”
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they → seem → this
Attacks continue
Russia and Ukraine accused each other of launching attacks overnight, despite the Abu Dhabi peace talks.
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Russia → continue → talks
Russia hit six electricity substations in central Ukraine, Ukrainian officials said, and an attack on a market in the Odesa region killed three people.
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attack → hit → people
A Ukrainian drone attack killed one person in Russia’s Belgorod region, local officials said.
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officials → kill → region
Ukrainian negotiator David Arakhamia said the talks had been tough, with Russia’s delegation arriving with “strict directives”, but the conversations provided “good momentum” towards reaching a solution by the end of the year.
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conversations → say → year
Although European officials and NATO representatives met US and Ukrainian envoys in Abu Dhabi, Russia’s delegation refused to meet them.
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delegation → meet → them
Arakhamia said future peace talks must be multilateral and include Europe at the table.
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talks → say → table
Russia’s chief negotiator, Vladimir Medinsky, told Russian state TV he thought a peace deal was closer after the talks but “a great deal depends on Ukraine, on the US stance, and on whether Europe comes to its senses”.
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Europe → tell → senses
Russia has repeatedly criticised European military support for Ukraine.
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Russia → criticise → Ukraine
As the Trump administration has scaled back its direct aid to Ukraine, Europe has become the leading provider of finance and military support to Kyiv.
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Europe → scale → Kyiv
Reaffirming Moscow’s long-standing demands, Medinsky told Russian state news agency TASS that “every inch” of Russian land would be returned to Russia – an apparent reference to Putin’s insistence that Ukraine surrender all of the Donbas.
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Ukraine → reaffirm → Donbas
Ukraine had hoped the Abu Dhabi talks would make progress towards a ceasefire on Black Sea grain shipments as a means of de-escalation, but Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha, on a visit to Turkey, said Kyiv was still awaiting a Russian response.
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Kyiv → hop → response
Front line static
Russian forces control about a fifth of Ukraine, much of it captured before the 2022 invasion, and their progress on the battlefield has slowed this year.
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progress → control → battlefield
With the front line largely static, Moscow has been pounding Ukrainian cities and energy sites, while Ukraine has stepped up attacks on Russian oil refineries and other infrastructure.
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Ukraine → pound → refineries
Russian officials are calling for a broad agreement on European security architecture to be reached before tackling the specifics of the war.
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agreement → call → war
Before its full-scale invasion in February 2022, Russia demanded the withdrawal of NATO forces from countries that joined the alliance after 1997, which the alliance rejected.
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alliance → demand → which
European officials say wider security talks should only come after a ceasefire, and that Russia should not be allowed to influence Europe’s security arrangements or be rewarded for starting the war.
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Russia → say → war
Trump said last week the war was close to being settled in a “big beautiful agreement” that could include security guarantees for Europe.
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that → say → Europe
He has frequently predicted breakthroughs that have not materialised.
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that → predict → breakthroughs
The Aporia
