Ukraine’s stalled prisoner swaps with Russia to resume

Kiev’s former defense minister Rustem Umerov said that Ukraine and Russia are preparing to restart the suspended prisoner of war exchange.

Umerov, currently secretary of Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council, said the process is expected to restart soon to bring back 1,200 Ukrainian soldiers from Russian captivity.

He said he was holding talks with mediators in Türkiye and the United Arab Emirates on the instructions of President Volodymyr Zelenskiy to revive the prisoner exchange.

In his statement on Telegram, Umerov said that the basic issues have been clarified and technical consultations on the implementation will begin shortly so that the soldiers can return home before Christmas.

Umerov led Ukraine’s negotiating team in talks with Russia earlier this year.

The most important result of the negotiations in May and June was an agreement on prisoner exchange, which continued in the following months but has since stopped.

Talks to end the war between Moscow and Kiev, which lasted more than three and a half years, have also been suspended since Umerov’s transfer.