Ukraine war briefing: Zelenskyy voices hope for new prisoner exchange as talks continue

Kyiv’s lead negotiator called the start of two days of US-led peace talks in Abu Dhabi “productive” on Wednesday. “The work was substantive and productive, focused on concrete steps and practical solutions,” Rustem Umerov, the head of Ukraine’s National Security and Defence Council, wrote on X. Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy, speaking in his nightly video address, said it was critical for the talks to lead to real peace and not offer Russia a new opportunity to continue the war. Ukraine’s partners, he said, had to exert more pressure on Moscow.

Zelenskyy also said Ukraine expected the talks to lead to a new prisoner exchange soon. The president, interviewed by French television channel France 2, said the number of Ukrainian soldiers killed on the battlefield as a result of the war with Russia was estimated at 55,000. He had previously cited a figure of more than 46,000 Ukrainian servicemen killed in an interview with US television network NBC in February 2025.

The Kremlin spokesperson, Dmitry Peskov, said on Wednesday that “the doors for a peaceful settlement are open,” but Russian forces would continue fighting until Kyiv made “decisions” that could bring the war to an end, underlining Moscow’s hardline stance even as negotiations resumed. Moscow has said it would not tolerate European troops on Ukrainian soil, a condition Kyiv sees as essential for credible security guarantees.

In a show of wartime alignment, Russian president Vladimir Putin held a video call on Wednesday with China’s president, Xi Jinping, with both leaders hailing the strength of bilateral ties.

The Kremlin also reacted to comments made by French president Emmanuel Macron that he was looking to resume contact with Putin on the war in Ukraine. According to Reuters, the Kremlin confirmed ongoing technical discussions between Russia and France, but provided no further details or indicated any dialogue between Putin and Macron. In Paris, diplomatic sources said French Macron’s most senior diplomat, Emmanuel Bonne, met Russian officials in the Kremlin on Tuesday.

Russia used cluster munitions Wednesday in an attack on a busy market in the eastern Ukraine town of Druzhkivka that killed seven and wounded 15 others, officials said. The attack darkened prospects for progress in the UAE, with Donetsk regional military administration chief Vadym Filashkin describing Russian talk of a ceasefire as “worthless.” Russia also launched 105 drones against Ukraine overnight, and air defenses shot down 88 of them, the Ukrainian air force said Wednesday. Strikes by 17 drones were recorded at 14 locations, as well as falling debris at five sites, it said.

The southern city of Odesa also came under a large-scale attack, regional military administration head Oleh Kiper said on Telegram, with strike drones damaging “civilian, residential and industrial infrastructure”. About 20 residential buildings were damaged, with four people rescued from under the rubble and one injured, he said.

Senior EU diplomats meeting on Wednesday approved a long-awaited €90bn loan for Ukraine, Jennifer Rankin reports from Brussels. The financial aid is a crucial lifeline for Ukraine, which has been enduring months of brutal Russian attacks damaging its energy and heating systems, while the country is in the grip of a bitterly cold winter.