Russia and Ukraine agree to major prisoner swap, Kremlin aide says
Photo: Vladimir Medinsky, head of the Russian delegation at the talks (Getty Images)
Russia announced that it had reached an agreement with Ukraine on a large-scale exchange of prisoners of war. However, the specific details of the upcoming repatriation have not yet been disclosed, according to TASS.
Vladimir Medinsky, who heads the Russian delegation at the talks in Abu Dhabi, announced the new agreement.
According to him, Ukraine and Russia have agreed to carry out a large-scale prisoner exchange. At the same time, the Russian representative noted that specific details regarding the exchange would be made public later.
According to Alexander Zorin, a representative of the Russian General Staff, the prisoner exchange between Ukraine and Russia could take place within the next two to three weeks. He made this statement in a comment to the Vesti agency, adding that the exchange could be one of the largest ever.
"(The exchange will take place—ed.) in the next, perhaps, two to three weeks, as I see it, after all issues related to the exchange procedure have been resolved," he says.
Earlier, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy spoke about the possible scale of the next prisoner-of-war exchange. According to him, two options were being considered: 1,000 for 1,000 or 1,500 for 1,500.
The issue of prisoner exchanges was one of the key topics during the first round of meetings in Abu Dhabi. In addition to humanitarian issues, the parties discussed security guarantees, a cessation of hostilities, and the future security architecture.
