Russia and Ukraine began an important exchange of prisoners on Friday that was agreed in their first direct conversations in more than three years, said a Ukrainian military source.
President Donald Trump said the exchange of prisoners had already completed, but kyiv and Moscow did not confirm this and the military source said the exchange was still underway.
Russia and Ukraine agreed at two hours of conversations in Istanbul last week to change 1,000 prisoners, but could not accept a high fire proposed by Trump. The exchanges of previous prisoners have been mediated by the United Arab Emirates.
The exchange of prisoners was the only concrete step towards peace that the two parties agreed in their conversations in Istanbul.
“Congratulations to both parties for this negotiation. Could this lead to something big?” Trump said in a publication about Truth Social.
It is believed that hundreds of thousands of soldiers on both sides were injured or killed in the most fatal war in Europe since World War II, although none of the parties publish figures of precise victims. Tens of thousands of Ukrainian civilians have also died since the Russian forces have besieged and bombarded the Ukrainian cities.
Ukraine says that he is ready for a high 30 -day fire immediately, but Russia, who launched the war invading his neighbor in 2022 and now occupies approximately one fifth of Ukraine, says he will not stop his assaults until the conditions are first met. A member of the Ukrainian delegation described those conditions as “not so many.”
Trump, who has changed the US policy of supporting Ukraine to accept part of the Russian account of the War, had said that he could tighten the sanctions to Russia if Moscow blocked a peace agreement. But after talking with Putin on Monday, he decided not to take any measure for now.
Moscow says that it is ready for peace conversations while fighting continues, and wants to discuss what calls the “root causes” of war, including its demands of Ukraine gives more territory and being disarmed and prohibited from military alliances with the West.
kyiv says he is equivalent to surrendering and would leave him helpless before future Russian attacks.
