Russia, Ukraine begin exchange of 500 prisoners of war

Moscow and Kyiv will each release a total of 500 prisoners of war over Thursday and Friday, Russia’s top negotiator said, with the Russian defence ministry saying the first 200 on each side had already been swapped.

“There will be an exchange of prisoners of war with Ukraine. 500 for 500,” Russian negotiator Vladimir Medinsky wrote on Telegram.

He added that the swop was part of agreements reached at trilateral talks between Russia, Ukraine and the United States in Geneva searching for an end to the conflict.

Large prisoner swop in rare cooperation during war

The Russian defence ministry said the UAE and the United States helped mediate Thursday’s exchange of 200 captured Russian soldiers for 200 captured Ukrainians.

It added that the Russian servicemen were in Belarus, a close ally of Russia that neighbours Ukraine.

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Moscow and Kyiv have held several rounds of prisoner exchanges throughout the war, one of the rare areas of cooperation between the warring countries.

The swops are among the very few tangible results of the talks, being pushed and mediated by Washington, trying to broker a deal to end the war.

Peace negotiations face delays and uncertainty

Negotiations appeared to have stalled amid a lack of progress and since the eruption of war in the Middle East.

Kyiv had said there had been a tentative plan to hold talks in Abu Dhabi this week — one of the places being hit by Iranian missiles and drones.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Monday suggested holding the next meeting in Switzerland or Turkey, which both have hosted previous rounds talks, instead.

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