Second US–Russia–Ukraine Talks End With Only Agreement on Exchange of 314 Prisoners

[Financial News] Russia and Ukraine, which are negotiating a cease-fire under US mediation, wrapped up their second round of talks on the 5th (local time) without a clear breakthrough. The two sides managed only to agree on the exchange of 314 prisoners of war.
The three-way meeting among the United States, Russia, and Ukraine was held over two days from the previous day in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, and began on the morning of the 5th. It ended after about four hours. This was the second round of talks, following the first held on the 23rd and 24th of last month.
In a joint statement released by Ukraine, the three countries said their delegations would report the results of the talks to their respective capitals and continue the three-way meetings over the coming weeks. The statement also reaffirmed the principle of continuing discussions on a cease-fire plan, and mentioned the United States as the likely venue for the next round. The parties expressed their gratitude to the UAE, which hosted the talks, and to US President Donald Trump.
Steve Witkoff, the presidential envoy who led the US delegation, described the talks as constructive and said they focused on how to create conditions for a sustainable peace. The negotiations reportedly centered on implementing a cease-fire, halting hostilities, and establishing monitoring mechanisms.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on social media that an additional round of talks is planned in the near future and that the next meeting is highly likely to take place in the United States.
At the very start of the talks, Russia and Ukraine agreed to exchange 314 prisoners of war and carried out the swap immediately. It was the first prisoner exchange in about four months, since October last year. According to Russian state news agency RIA Novosti, each side handed over 157 prisoners in a border area. The exchange was arranged through the mediation of the UAE.
It remains unclear whether two North Korean soldiers captured in January last year were included in the latest exchange. These North Korean prisoners had expressed a desire to defect to South Korea in handwritten letters delivered to a South Korean defector group. The South Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs has stressed that its basic principle is to accept all of them if they request to go to South Korea, and has conveyed this position to the Ukrainian side.
The United States and Russia also agreed that day to resume separate high-level military talks. They judged that regular contacts between their militaries are necessary to achieve a durable peace. High-level US–Russia military dialogue had been suspended since the fall of 2021, several months before Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
However, the joint statement released that day did not address territorial issues, which are seen as the core sticking point in cease-fire talks. Russia insists that Ukraine must fully withdraw from Donetsk Oblast and Luhansk Oblast in the Donbas region, a demand Ukraine rejects. Kyiv has also indicated it cannot accept the US proposal for a free economic zone in the Donetsk region, as it is premised on a Ukrainian withdrawal.
The New York Times noted that aside from the announcement of the prisoner exchange, the talks produced few tangible results and that there is still no sign of progress on the key issues needed for a peace agreement.
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km@fnnews.com Kim Kyung-min Reporter