Russia and Ukraine reach agreement on prisoner exchange deal

Russia and Ukraine have concluded a second day of US-brokered negotiations in the United Arab Emirates, reaching an agreement to exchange 314 prisoners of war. According to reports from Russian state news agency RIA, this marks the first prisoner swap between the two nations in several months.

US special envoy Steve Witkoff confirmed the deal on X, stating that significant work remains but acknowledging the progress made through sustained diplomatic engagement. Russian negotiator Kirill Dmitriev expressed optimism about the talks, saying “things are moving forward in a good, positive direction.” However, he also criticized attempts by European nations to disrupt the process.

The prisoner exchange agreement follows a first round of trilateral negotiations in late January, which appeared to make little progress on key issues such as territory. Russia is demanding that Ukraine cede a fifth of the Donetsk region it still controls, but Kyiv’s government has refused to do so.

According to RIA, 157 prisoners of war were exchanged between Russia and Ukraine, with three civilians from the Kursk region also being returned to Russia. This marks the first such agreement in several months.

The negotiations come ahead of the four-year anniversary of the conflict on February 24. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy recently disclosed that 55,000 Ukrainian soldiers have been killed since the 2022 invasion, with thousands more remaining missing.

Meanwhile, violence continued to occur during the prisoner exchange talks. In Kyiv, a Russian drone attack wounded two elderly women and damaged residential buildings, an office block, and a kindergarten. Ukraine’s air force reported that Russia launched two ballistic missiles and 183 drones at Ukraine overnight, which were shot down by air defense systems.

In other developments, Russian forces shelled Ukraine’s eastern city of Druzhkivka on Wednesday, killing at least seven people at a crowded market. The attack used cluster munitions and targeted the market during a busy time on Wednesday morning.

Source: Al Jazeera