Days after Russia and Ukraine agreed to exchange prisoners of war, both the nations on Friday handed over 390 soldiers and civilians each in the biggest prisoner exchange exercise since the start of the full-scale Russian invasion in 2022.
Quoting Russian Defence Ministry, the Associated Press reported that each side had released 270 military personnel and 120 civilian detainees. The exchange is 바카라planned to continue in coming days,바카라 it said.
Although there have been dozens of smaller-scale exchanges so far, no other handover has involved as many civilians. On May 16, Russia and Ukraine agreed to exchange 1,000 prisoners of war each, the head of Russia's delegation Vladimir Medinsky said after their peace talks ended in the Dolmabache palace, in Istanbul, Turkey. Medinsky also said Moscow and Kyiv agreed to provide each other with detailed proposals for a ceasefire.
According to the Russian defence ministry, servicemen and civilians, including those captured by Ukrainian forces in Russia's Kursk border region during Kyiv's offensives, were part of the exchange programme.
"We are bringing our people home. The first stage of the 바카라1000-for-1000바카라 exchange agreement has been carried out. This agreement was reached during the meeting in TĂŒrkiye, and it is crucial to implement it in full. Today 바카라 390 people. On Saturday and Sunday, we expect the exchange to continue", Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky announced on social media.
"Thank you to everyone who is helping and working 24/7 to bring Ukrainian men and women back home. It is very important to return everyone who remains in captivity. We are verifying every surname, every detail about each person. We will continue our diplomatic efforts to make such steps possible", he further added.
On May 19, US President Donald Trump and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin spoke for more than two hours on Monday after which Putin asserted that Moscow was ready to work toward ending fighting in Ukraine, the Associated Press reported.
Furthermore, the Russian President also said that Russia was in favor of a 바카라peaceful settlement바카라 and that compromises would need to be found to suit both parties. He also described the conversation with Trump as 바카라frank and meaningful." However, the White House did not immediately provide its own account of the call.
Trump on Saturday announced that he planned to speak by phone with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday to discuss ending the ongoing conflict in Ukraine.
바카라I will be speaking, by telephone, to President Vladimir Putin of Russia on Monday, at 10:00 a.m.,바카라 Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social. 바카라The subjects of the call will be, stopping the 바카라bloodbath바카라 that is killing, on average, more than 5,000 Russian and Ukrainian soldiers a week, and trade."
This came a day after direct talks between Russia and Ukraine in Istanbul, the first since early 2022, resulted in an agreement to exchange 1,000 prisoners each according to AFP.
