Ukraine and Russia swap prisoners as talks advance

Russia and Ukraine carried out a prisoner exchange on Wednesday and are engaged in advanced negotiations over what could become one of the largest swaps so far, with some 1,200 people involved on each side.

Russia's Defense Ministry announced the completion of a "175 for 175" prisoner exchange on Wednesday. Among those returned to Ukraine were 22 individuals with serious injuries. The swap signals a continued, albeit fragile, channel of communication remains open between the two nations.

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky and the secretary of Ukraine's National Security and Defense Council indicated over the weekend that an agreement in principle had been reached for a much larger exchange, potentially involving up to 1,200 Ukrainian prisoners.

Zelensky also took to social media to announce that prisoner exchanges would soon resume.

"We are counting on the resumption of POW exchanges. Many meetings, negotiations and calls are currently taking place to ensure this," he wrote, stressing that the return of Ukrainian soldiers and civilians remains a top priority.

According to Ukrainian sources, the negotiations, which are being facilitated by Turkiye and the United Arab Emirates, aim to reactivate a prisoner-exchange mechanism originally discussed in Istanbul in 2022.

Kyiv has voiced hope that the process could be finalized in time to allow prisoners to return home for the New Year and Christmas holidays.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov confirmed on Monday that expert-level contacts on prisoner exchanges are ongoing, but he declined to provide specifics, stopping short of fully confirming the large-scale deal.

Meanwhile, Zelensky announced that he would visit Turkiye "to advance negotiations" on a settlement to the conflict. He said the Ukrainian side would present its proposals to partners and discuss resuming prisoner swaps, though he did not specify whom he intended to meet or elaborate on the ideas to be tabled.

Citing unnamed Ukrainian and Turkish officials, Turkish news website PA Turkey reported that Zelensky is scheduled to meet with Turkiye's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and US special envoy Steve Witkoff.

On Tuesday, Peskov said the Kremlin had taken note of Zelensky's announcement and was awaiting the outcome of the talks, noting that Kyiv had not conveyed any information to Moscow regarding its readiness to resume negotiations.

"Russia remains open to negotiations," Peskov said at a news conference, adding that President Vladimir Putin would be willing to meet with Witkoff or Turkish representatives if they deemed it necessary to brief Russia on their discussions with Zelensky.