Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Thursday evening, November 12, that Russia and Ukraine will carry out "the biggest exchange of war prisoners" of the war, after meeting US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner at Baldonnel Aerodrome, at Casement, on the outskirts of Dublin. The talks lasted almost an hour, under heavy security, and came hours after the two envoys spent about two hours with Russian President Vladimir Putin in the Kremlin.

Source: PA Media, Nov 12, 2026

"Our soldiers will come home," Zelensky told reporters. "I'm very thankful to all our negotiators. This is a real result, this is very important and successful for the families and to all of us that people will come home to their families." None of the three men gave a final number on Thursday night; a day earlier, beside Irish Taoiseach Micheál Martin, Zelensky had said the Abu Dhabi round discussed a 1,000-for-1,000 swap and "perhaps we will even be able to exchange 1,200 people".

Source: Silent Dossier, Nov 12, 2026

Kushner said the envoys had been able to "finalise on the prisoner of war exchange, which is a very important thing", speaking of returning "these thousands of people to their families". He described the Abu Dhabi negotiations with Russia as "very intense", with many hours of meetings at night and in the morning, and the Kremlin session as "a very detailed and productive" meeting with Putin and his negotiating team.

Europe will have a voice — Zelensky

Zelensky also welcomed the move to bring European representatives into the next round of negotiations. "They will have a voice. This is important for us because the war is in Europe," he said. Kushner, standing beside him, said of the Kremlin meeting: "We cannot conclude this deal without the Europeans being at the table … and I think that we're able to achieve that with President Putin." Witkoff said President Donald Trump is "intent on leading the charge to end this war" and that "we've got another meeting on the schedule" — but gave no date or place for the next round.

A seat for Europe — but nobody named to fill it

Who will actually sit in that European seat is still undecided. More than 40 European leaders ended their European Political Community summit in Dublin on Thursday without naming anyone to take it. EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said the treaties give the role to European Council President Antonio Costa and herself; German Chancellor Friedrich Merz named the E3 format of Germany, France and the United Kingdom, and a group of five adding Italy and Poland; French President Emmanuel Macron said the format "will be determined" later. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on the same day that Europe must first name a representative.

Moscow's own readout was cooler than Washington's. Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov, in a statement published by the Russian foreign ministry on Thursday evening, called the Kremlin conversation "substantive, constructive, frank and useful" and said Putin backed the Abu Dhabi initiative for "another, apparently the largest, exchange of prisoners of war", with "the parameters of this exchange currently being agreed". On Europe, Ushakov said the Europeans "must decide whether they want peace or the continuation of the war", and he did not confirm any agreement that Europeans will join the next round.

In Dublin, Taoiseach Micheál Martin rejected suggestions that the US, not Europe, is the key player, saying "the Americans accept there should be a European voice at the table". Around 50 heads of state and senior EU officials attended the EPC meeting — the largest political and diplomatic event ever held in Ireland, held during Ireland's six-month presidency of the EU Council. A further meeting of the Coalition of the Willing in support of Ukraine is scheduled for next week in Berlin, the next occasion for Europe to name who it sends.

At the same Dublin summit, Zelensky also raised Ukraine's complaints about new speed restrictions on the Starshield satellite service used by its military. Read: Starshield speed capped again, Zelenskyy says