New Delhi: In a rare and important development, Russia and Ukraine started a major prisoner exchange on Friday, marking the first concrete step towards de-escalation agreed upon during their first direct talks in over three years.
While US President Donald Trump prematurely announced the swap’s completion, sources from Kyiv and Moscow confirmed the process was still actively underway, news agency Reuters reported. “Congratulations to both sides on this negotiation. This could lead to something big???,” Trump said in a post on Truth Social.
The agreement to exchange 1,000 prisoners was the sole tangible outcome from two hours of direct negotiations held in Istanbul last week. Despite this breakthrough, the warring nations remained deadlocked on a proposed ceasefire, which President Trump had advocated for.
Previous prisoner exchanges between the two countries had typically been mediated by the United Arab Emirates.
Trump reacted with cautious optimism to the news on Truth Social, posting, “Congratulations to both sides on this negotiation. This could lead to something big???” The exchange offers a fragile glimmer of hope amidst Europe’s deadliest conflict since World War Two, a war that has seen hundreds of thousands of soldiers wounded or killed on both sides and led to the deaths of tens of thousands of Ukrainian civilians in besieged and bombarded cities.
Ukraine has reiterated its readiness for an immediate 30-day ceasefire. However, Russia, which initiated the invasion in 2022 and currently occupies approximately a fifth of Ukraine’s territory, insists it will not halt its assaults until certain conditions are met.
These conditions, which Ukrainian delegates have dismissed as “non-starters,” include demands for Ukraine to cede more territory, disarm, and be barred from military alliances with Western nations, which Kyiv views as tantamount to surrender and a path to future vulnerability.
U.S. policy under President Trump has notably shifted from staunch support for Ukraine towards a more accepting view of Russia’s narrative of the conflict. While Trump had previously suggested tightening sanctions on Moscow if a peace deal was blocked, he decided against immediate action after a recent conversation with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Moscow maintains it is ready for peace talks even as fighting rages, but its insistence on discussing the war’s “root causes,” including territorial concessions, remains a significant obstacle to any comprehensive resolution.
