President Donald Trump announced Friday that Ukraine and Russia had finalized a “major” prisoner exchange, with each side releasing 1,000 detainees—the largest swap of the war, according to The New York Times.
Trump praised the deal and suggested it “could lead to something big” as the U.S. continues efforts to broker peace between the two nations.
“A major prisoners swap was just completed between Russia and Ukraine. It will go into effect shortly,” Trump wrote on Truth Social early Friday morning. “Congratulations to both sides on this negotiation. This could lead to something big???”
From The Daily Wire:
Earlier this week, Trump said that Russian President Vladimir Putin had agreed to begin ceasefire negotiations with Ukraine, adding that the talks could be held at the Vatican. Trump made the announcement after a two-hour phone call with the Russian despot.
“Russia and Ukraine will immediately start negotiations toward a Ceasefire and, more importantly, an END to the War,” Trump said on Monday. “The conditions for that will be negotiated between the two parties, as it can only be, because they know details of a negotiation that nobody else would be aware of.”
While Trump administration officials have met with both Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, the two leaders have yet to negotiate with each other. Last week, Zelensky met with Russian officials in Turkey as Putin skipped the meeting. Trump said last Friday that he understood why Putin didn’t attend the meeting, adding that he plannedto meet with the Russian president “as soon as possible.”
During the talks in Turkey, Ukraine and Russia agreed to the prisoner swap, but Russian officials reportedly said they would not agree to a ceasefire unless Ukraine withdraws from four regions in eastern Ukraine that Russian forces took over in 2022.
“The agreement to release 1,000 of our people from Russian captivity became perhaps the only tangible result of the meeting in Turkey,” Zelensky said following the meeting. “We are working to ensure this result is delivered.”
This story is developing…
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