Russia and Ukraine have agreed to a large exchange of prisoners of war, both sides said on Wednesday, as two days of United States-mediated talks in Abu Dhabi came to an end. The agreement was the main concrete outcome of the first meeting between the delegations in nine months, but neither side announced a breakthrough on ending the war, which began after Moscow's full-scale invasion nearly five years ago. ## What was agreed US envoy Jared Kushner said the two sides had agreed "the biggest humanitarian release of prisoners", with the final numbers to be settled on Thursday. Vladimir Medinsky, who led the Russian delegation, and Rustem Umerov, who led Kyiv's delegation, both confirmed the planned exchange, although Medinsky described the agreement as "in principle". No figure and no date for the release were announced. A Russian defence official, Alexander Zorin, said it would be one of the biggest such swaps since 1,000 soldiers were returned home last year, and suggested the exchange could take place within the next two or three weeks. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy had said on Tuesday that an exchange of 1,000 or 1,500 prisoners from each side had been discussed. ## Talks end with no ceasefire deal Wednesday's session lasted just under two hours, after a four-hour session the previous day. The talks were the first in the trilateral format since February, when discussions in Geneva ended without a truce. Kushner said he and fellow US envoy Steve Witkoff would travel to Moscow on Thursday to meet President Vladimir Putin, then fly to Dublin to meet President Zelenskyy. European officials were not part of the direct talks: Moscow has resisted European involvement, although Kyiv's delegation was expected to meet European government, EU and NATO representatives in Abu Dhabi later on Wednesday. Fighting continued while the talks were under way, with Russian strikes reported in the Zaporizhzhia region and the eastern city of Kharkiv overnight, and Ukraine reporting drone attacks on Russian targets.