Ukraine is actively working on a new prisoner exchange and aims to bring home another thousand of its citizens. This was stated by President Volodymyr Zelensky during a closed meeting with journalists, emphasizing the importance of this humanitarian process.
This is reported by Kyiv24
Involvement of Rustem Umerov and negotiations with Russia
According to the president, the organization of the next exchange is overseen by the Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council, Rustem Umerov. He is leading the negotiations with the main representative of the Russian Federation, Vladimir Medinsky. Currently, the parties are in working contact and are coordinating the lists of individuals they plan to release from captivity.
“Rustem spoke about the exchange with (the main negotiator from Russia, Vladimir – ed.) Medinsky – they are in contact. We want to bring back 1000 people, and they are working on the lists,” the head of state was quoted by the Public Broadcaster on September 20.
The president emphasized that Kyiv is committed to negotiations, but they must be effective and result-oriented. He noted that irresponsible meetings do not bring the parties closer to peace but only prolong the decision-making process.
Details of the agreements and previous exchanges
Zelensky noted that the Russian side once again fails to keep its promises: during previous negotiations, instead of discussing a meeting of the leaders of the countries, they limited themselves to the issue of prisoner exchanges. After previous calls, the Russians are delaying the process, citing technical aspects and the need for additional meetings.
The president also expressed hope that the issue of prisoner exchanges would be discussed with U.S. President Donald Trump during upcoming contacts.
The last large-scale exchange between Ukraine and Russia took place on August 24. At that time, in addition to military personnel, eight civilians were also released, including the former mayor of Kherson, Volodymyr Mykolaienko.
Earlier, on June 2, Ukrainian and Russian delegations reached agreements on new exchanges in Istanbul. As reported by the head of the Ukrainian delegation, Rustem Umerov, the parties decided to focus on exchanging severely wounded and seriously ill prisoners of war on the principle of “all for all,” as well as young soldiers aged 18 to 25. A separate part of the agreements involved the return of 6000 bodies of fallen soldiers.