Chernikv Region, Ukraine — Ukrainian officials noted that prisoner exchanges between Russia and Ukraine, stemming from the conflict that began three years ago, were still taking place on Friday. They described this as one of the few encouraging signs in the ongoing international efforts to halt fighting.
The exchange was still ongoing, according to sources who asked to remain anonymous.
Moscow has not confirmed these exchanges were happening yet.
Last week, Ukraine and Russia agreed in Turkey to swap 1,000 prisoners from each side; this was during their first direct peace talks since the early days of Russia’s invasion in 2022. The meeting was brief, lasting just two hours, and did not yield any significant breakthroughs in the diplomatic efforts to end the conflict.
On Friday, President Donald Trump mentioned on his platform that a major prisoner exchange had occurred between Russia and Ukraine.
“The major exchange of prisoners between Russia and Ukraine has been completed,” Trump stated. He indicated that this could lead to important developments, but it was unclear what that entailed.
The White House and National Security Council did not respond right away when asked for more information.
Following talks on May 16, Turkey’s Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan mentioned that prisoners were exchanged under “reliability property measures” and that both parties were generally open to future meetings.
However, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov stated on Friday that no agreements had been made regarding the next steps due to ongoing diplomatic tensions.
European leaders criticized President Putin for appearing to stall peace efforts while continuing military actions aimed at seizing more territory from Ukraine.
The talks in Istanbul revealed significant gaps in the conditions needed to end hostilities. For Ukraine, one condition, supported by its Western allies, includes a temporary ceasefire as a first step toward a peaceful resolution.
The Kremlin dismissed the idea of a temporary halt to the fighting, with Putin suggesting that any ceasefire should include a freeze on Western arms supplies to Ukraine and an end to Ukrainian mobilization efforts.
A senior Ukrainian official reported that Russia had introduced new “unacceptable demands” requiring the withdrawal of Ukrainian troops from vast areas. This proposal had not been previously discussed, according to unnamed officials who spoke to the Associated Press.
Putin has long called for Ukraine to withdraw its forces from the four regions annexed by Russia in September 2022, seeing this as a crucial condition for any peace agreement.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky warned that if Russia continued to reject a ceasefire and put forward “unrealistic demands,” it would indicate a deliberate attempt to prolong the conflict.
