Russia and Ukraine carry out the largest prisoner exchange of the entire war
Each side is handing over 1,000 prisoners, as agreed at last week's Istanbul talks.
MoscowThe largest prisoner exchange between Russia and Ukraine since the war began continues. Each country pledged to hand over 1,000 prisoners as part of the agreements Moscow and Kiev reached last Friday at the direct talks in Istanbul, the first in three years. This Saturday, the second of three days to finalize the deal, 307 military personnel were released from each side, adding to the 270 and 120 civilians each country already released yesterday.
"In just two days, 697 people have returned. We hope more will return tomorrow," Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on his Telegram account. "Our goal is the return of each and every one of our people from Russian captivity. We continue to interact with our partners to make that possible," he added.
Until now, the largest prisoner exchange had taken place on April 19, coinciding with Orthodox Easter. At that time, each army released more than 250 enemy soldiers. In total, it is estimated that, once the current exchange is completed, both sides will have handed over nearly 6,000 prisoners of war, including civilians, in more than sixty swaps. This practice has remained more or less stable throughout the war, despite the public breakdown of diplomatic contacts between Kiev and Moscow.
Donald Trump chose to take the credit, announcing the news even before the exchange was finalized. The US president congratulated both parties on the negotiations. However, the initiative did not come from the United States, which Russia vetoed from participating in the meeting with Ukraine, but rather from Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan, when he realized that the two delegations' positions were at odds.
The prisoner exchange is the only tangible agreement reached by the two sides in Istanbul. Vladimir Putin's envoys threatened to invade new Ukrainian territories if Volodymyr Zelensky did not cede all of the annexed regions, including the parts under Kiev's control, and in recent hours the Kremlin has confirmed its intentions. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov assured that he "will not allow under any circumstances" that, as a result of a peace agreement, millions of Russian-speaking citizens will remain trapped in "what remains of Ukraine" under the rule of "Zelensky's junta."
This statement is consistent with the fact that Trump, according to the Wall Street JournalAfter speaking by phone with Putin, Lavrov conveyed to European leaders that the Russian president is unwilling to stop the war because he believes he is winning. The American leader also assured them that the Vatican would host the next talks between Russia and Ukraine, but Lavrov dismissed this, claiming it would be "inelegant" to resolve a conflict between two Orthodox countries at the headquarters of the Catholic Church.
