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By Hannah Parry
Associate News Editor
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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has announced progress toward a major prisoner exchange with Russia after meeting President Donald Trump's envoys Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff in Ireland Thursday.
Zelensky described the agreement as a "real result," saying the exchange could see thousands of prisoners of war return to their families.
The meeting took place at Baldonnel Aerodrome, outside Dublin, following discussions between Russian President Vladimir Putin and the American delegation in Moscow.
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Kushner and Witkoff briefed Zelensky on their talks with Putin, which the U.S. envoys described as detailed and productive. The discussions followed two days of negotiations involving Russian, Ukrainian and American representatives in Abu Dhabi.
The latest diplomatic developments also included progress toward giving European representatives a place in future negotiations, an issue Kyiv has repeatedly said is essential to any lasting peace agreement.
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Zelensky Announces Major Prisoner Exchange
Speaking after his meeting with Kushner and Witkoff, Zelensky said an agreement had been reached on what he described as the biggest prisoner exchange since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
"Our soldiers will come home," Zelensky said. "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."
Kushner also confirmed progress on the prisoner exchange, saying the negotiations had helped finalize arrangements for the return of thousands of people affected by the war.
"We were able to finalize on the prisoner of war exchange, which is a very important thing," he said.
"A lot of people are being impacted by this war, and to return these thousands of people to their families I think will be a very nice milestone to achieve."
One of the significant developments from Thursday's meeting was the apparent progress toward securing European participation in future negotiations with Russia and Ukraine. Zelensky has repeatedly argued that European countries must have a direct role in discussions about the future of Ukraine and the continent's security.
"We cannot conclude this deal without the Europeans being at the table," Kushner said Thursday.
He added that the issue had been raised with Putin and that the Russian president was prepared to consider European participation.
"We told President Putin that we consider this very important. And President Zelenskyy was a very determined supporter of this, and he had been talking about it from the very beginning. And I think we managed to achieve this with President Putin, and he is ready to try," Kushner told reporters.
He also expressed hope that direct discussions would allow the parties to examine outstanding issues in a calmer atmosphere, rather than exchanging public statements and accusations.
Meanwhile, Witkoff said President Donald Trump remained committed to securing an end to the conflict and that further discussions were already being planned.
"President Trump is intent on leading the charge to end this war," Witkoff said after Thursday's meeting. "We've got another meeting on the schedule, and we're all going to work very, very hard to get to that goal."
This is breaking news, updates to follow.
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