Ukraine is working to renew the trade of prisoners with Russia, hoping for the discharge of 1,200 Ukrainians, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and his Safety Council chief stated.
“We’re … relying on the resumption of exchanges,” Zelenskyy stated in a video posted on the Telegram messaging app on Sunday (Nov 16). “Many conferences, negotiations and calls at the moment are dedicated to this.”
His safety chief, Rustem Umerov, stated on Saturday that he had held consultations in Türkiye and the United Arab Emirates, with the assist of Kyiv’s companions, on resuming the method of exchanges.
“Because of these negotiations, the events agreed to return to the Istanbul agreements,” he stated. “This issues the discharge of 1,200 Ukrainians,” Umerov stated in an announcement on Telegram.
There was no rapid remark from Moscow to Ukraine’s statements.
The Istanbul agreements are prisoner-exchange understandings brokered with Turkish mediation in 2022, setting out guidelines for giant, coordinated swaps between Russia and Ukraine.
Since then, the 2 have traded hundreds of prisoners, although exchanges have been sporadic and sometimes disrupted by frontline escalation within the battle Russia launched in opposition to Ukraine in February 2022.
Umerov stated that consultations would happen within the close to future to resolve the procedural and organisational particulars of the method.
“We’re working with out pause in order that Ukrainians who’re to return from captivity can have fun New Yr and Christmas at residence – on the household desk and with their family members,” Umerov stated.
