President Trump on Friday announced that Ukraine and Russia were conducting a major prisoner swap, one of the largest of the war, following direct negotiations held in Turkey last week.
In a post on his social media site Truth Social, Trump said the swap would go into effect shortly, and congratulated both sides. Trump suggested the swap demonstrated progress as he has failed over the course of two months to get Russia to agree to implement any ceasefire.
“This could lead to something big???” Trump posted.
Russia and Ukraine are expected to swap 1,000 prisoners of war. Following through on the prisoner exchange could signal a positive step forward in efforts at trust, as Russia has balked at implementing an unconditional ceasefire and instead proposed drafting a memo of terms to end the war.
Russia launched a full-scale invasion against Ukraine in February 2022 and now controls about 20 percent of Ukrainian territory in the east and south of the country, including the Crimean Peninsula that it invaded and annexed in 2014.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Thursday said Ukraine is ready to “take the fastest possible steps” toward a ceasefire and “establishment of a new security architecture,” but said it is Russia’s fault the war is still ongoing.
“Ukraine’s interest is not to prolong the war, but to be prepared for any development,” he wrote in a post on X.
“We are doing all the necessary groundwork on our side. What’s needed is a reciprocal readiness from Russia – and it’s not there now, and without global pressure, that will not change.”
