The United States is preparing a prisoner exchange that could be the largest of the war

The United States is working to arrange a prisoner exchange between Ukraine and Russia. Special envoy to the U.S. president Jared Kushner announced the preparations, Reuters reports.

“We are working on what could become the largest prisoner exchange of the war, allowing thousands of people to return to their families,” Jared Kushner wrote on the social network X.

The exchange could be the largest since the start of the full-scale war. However, the U.S. envoy did not disclose details of a possible agreement.

At the same time, Ukraine and Russia agreed to broaden the group of participants in future peace talks, with European countries set to join. Kushner’s statement confirmed the remarks of Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who had earlier welcomed European participation in the next round of negotiations.

According to the U.S. special envoy, involving European states will make it possible to move beyond discussions of territorial disagreements between Ukraine and Russia. The expanded format is also expected to cover broader issues of postwar security in Europe.

Kushner said the progress made was encouraging for Washington. At the same time, he acknowledged that serious differences between the parties remain.

The special envoy also stressed that ending the war for good requires reliable security guarantees for Ukraine and mutual commitments to de-escalation. In his view, these measures should reduce the risk of a new armed conflict in the future.

We previously reported:

• Europe to join talks on ending the war in Ukraine
• Kyiv discusses return to trilateral talks and a winter package
• Zelenskyy “allowed” the parade in Moscow and confirmed a prisoner exchange and a three-day ceasefire
• “We won’t be able to bring everyone back”: Ukraine critically lacks prisoners to exchange
• Prisoner exchange, return of children: Mykolaiv lawyer answers key questions