Russia and Ukraine Agreed on a Scenario of a New Prisoners’ Exchange
OREANDA-NEWS. RBC news agency, citing four sources (presenting both parties) familiar with the situation, reported that the negotiations of Russia and Ukraine on the exchange of prisoners in the format “all for all” entered the final stage.
“Now an important issue is the exchange of all identified for all identified persons between Kiev and Donbass. The lists have already been agreed and approved,” said an interlocutor of journalists. According to him, Kiev authorities are ready to transfer “about 250 people in exchange for 100.” “Active work is ongoing, the stage of legal arrangement is to be completed soon (the persons who are being prepared for the exchange have different procedural status),” he explained. Negotiators consider being identified the persons whose location has been reliably established.
This information was confirmed by the interlocutor, close to the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry.
The fact that negotiations on the exchange of “all for all” reached the final stage, was also confirmed by the source, close to the Office of the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky. In particular, he knows that the progress in the new exchange was recorded in a draft communiqué prepared by experts for the leaders of the Normandy Four, it may be adopted after their meeting.
The first summit of the Four in three years will be held in Paris on December 9. Presidents of Russia, Ukraine and France Vladimir Putin, Volodymyr Zelensky and Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Angela Merkel will take part in it. The RBC interlocutor in the Zelensky’s Office, commenting on the prisoners’ exchange, stated that it depends on the upcoming meeting. The source, close to the Office of the President, said that Zelensky plans to raise the issue of exchange at a meeting with Putin.
The press service of the Foreign Minister of Ukraine refused to comment the information and redirected a RBC journalist to the press service of the Security Service of Ukraine.
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