Ukraine and Russia may conduct two prisoner swaps - Zelenskyy reveals numbers
Photo: Volodymyr Zelenskyy, President of Ukraine (Vitalii Nosach, RBC-Ukraine)
Ukraine and Russia agreed on a prisoner exchange during today’s talks in Istanbul. In total, 1,200 Ukrainians may return home, stated Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy during a conversation with journalists.
Prisoner exchange
"What was agreed on. There will be a military exchange. It will be 1,000 for 1,000, with possibly an additional 200 for 200, because Ukraine raised the issue of additional military personnel, political prisoners, and journalists," the head of state said.
He clarified that Ukraine and Russia plan to exchange the lists of names this week. According to Zelenskyy, he hopes that this time, Russia will submit the lists in advance.
The President added that the Russian side stated its readiness to hand over the bodies of 6,000 fallen defenders. Ukraine, in turn, agreed to hand over the bodies of 6,000 Russian soldiers.
"However, this issue needs to be carefully studied. I told this to Umerov (Defense Minister Rustem Umerov - ed.) because, as we have learned, only 15 percent of the 6,000 bodies held by the Russians are identified. It's important to check everything thoroughly. We had an incident when they handed over their Russian dead soldiers to us," the President noted.
Memorandums
Also, as the President noted, Ukraine and Russia exchanged memorandums. Ukraine handed over its memorandum in advance, while Russia provided theirs only during today's talks.
"I haven't yet received feedback from Umerov; he is traveling with a report, and I will speak with him tomorrow in Kyiv, and we will share information," he said.
Return of Ukrainian children
The head of state also noted that Ukraine handed over a list of nearly 400 children deported to Russia.
In response, the Russian delegation proposed to "work something out" on this issue.
Negotiations in Istanbul
Ukraine and Russia held the second round of negotiations in Istanbul today, June 2.
Defense Minister Rustem Umerov said that as a result of the meeting, the parties agreed on a new prisoner exchange. In particular, it is planned to exchange severely wounded and seriously ill prisoners in an all-for-all format.
For more details on the negotiations, see the material by RBC-Ukraine.
