Russia Ukraine prisoner swap:
Russia and Ukraine have agreed to exchange 1,000 prisoners of war (PoWs) each, marking the largest prisoner swap between the two nations since the war began in 2022. This major step comes during the first round of direct peace talks held in Istanbul, Turkey.
Ukrainian representative Rustem Umerov said that Ukraine is focused on achieving an immediate ceasefire and wants real diplomatic progress. He added that Ukraine’s position is supported by the United States and European countries, who are also calling for peace.
On the other side, Vladimir Medinsky, the head of Russia’s peace delegation, confirmed the prisoner exchange deal. He said both sides will now work on exchanging proposals for a possible ceasefire and explore the idea of a meeting between their presidents.
Ukraine has requested a meeting between President Volodymyr Zelensky and Russian President Vladimir Putin. However, President Putin did not attend the peace talks in Turkey and instead sent a lower-level team. This upset the Ukrainian side, and Zelensky later said that Russia was not serious about ending the war.
Zelensky stated, “We realized Russia is not serious about real negotiations when we saw the delegation they sent.” He said Putin is avoiding direct talks and failing to take peace efforts seriously.
Despite the challenges, Russia said it is ready to continue discussions. Medinsky stated that they are satisfied with the initial outcome and open to more talks in the future.
This prisoner swap shows that some communication is still happening between the two countries, but a long-lasting peace will require more effort, trust, and mutual understanding.
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