Ukrainian president expects war prisoners' swap with Russia ‘very soon’

By Burc Eruygur and Kanyshai Butun

ISTANBUL (AA) - Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Friday that his country is expecting a prisoner swap with Russia to be possible “very soon.”

Following a report delivered to him by Ukraine’s negotiating team on the latest trilateral peace talks in Geneva, Switzerland, earlier this week, Zelenskyy said they particularly discussed aspects of the talks that could not be addressed over the phone.

Expressing gratitude to his team for their work, he said US envoys are also doing everything possible to keep negotiations constructive and that Ukraine fully supports them in this context.

“We believe that real opportunities to end the war with dignity still exist, and the world’s ability to pressure the aggressor could significantly help ensure that a dignified peace replaces the war,” Zelenskyy wrote on US social media company X.

“We count on another round of negotiations being organized very soon, as early as this February, and on that round becoming truly productive,” he said, noting that Kyiv’s responses to the “most difficult questions” ahead of the next meeting are ready.

He said that the priorities for Ukraine’s negotiating team for the future talks in the trilateral format and with the US have also been defined, going on to state it is a meeting between leaders which could prove decisive in many respects, and that the Ukrainian side is ready for such talks.

“The team must also secure conditions for progress on humanitarian issues – POW (prisoners of war) exchanges must continue. We expect that an exchange will be possible very soon,” he added.

Separately, Russian President Vladimir Putin held a meeting with permanent members of the country's Security Council on Friday, during which he was briefed by presidential aide Vladimir Medinsky on the talks in Geneva.

Medinsky led Moscow's delegation at the talks in Switzerland.

The details of the Security Council meeting have yet to be made public.

Russia and Ukraine held a third round of peace talks in Geneva, Switzerland, on Feb. 17-18, following two earlier rounds of talks in the UAE capital Abu Dhabi earlier this month and in January.