- POW exchange facilitated by UAE
- 3,135 Ukrainian POWs liberated
- No expansion of conflict planned
An exchange of one hundred prisoners of war (POWs) has occurred between Russia and Ukraine, facilitated by the United Arab Emirates.
The Gulf nation’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced the exchange as a “success” on Friday, highlighting it as its third attempt at mediating between Moscow and Kyiv since December, during which it advocated for dialogue and de-escalation.
In a Friday post on X, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy stated that his nation “will make every effort to continue prisoner exchanges.”
The Russian Ministry of Defence praised the UAE’s “humanitarian mediation” in a Telegram message.
As of Thursday night, 3,135 Ukrainian POWs have been liberated from Russian captivity, according to Zelenskyy’s social media account.
The head of the intelligence division at the Ukrainian Ministry of Defence, Kyrylo Budanov, urged Ukrainians to disregard scepticism. He addressed concerns about the length of time required to complete a complex process.
“It has, as you can see, taken some time, but the end result is what truly matters.” “The response to your inquiry can be found over there,” Budanov stated at the unidentified location where the service members had returned.
The two nations exchanged 195 prisoners of war in January, the first exchange of prisoners since the crash of a Russian military transport plane transporting 65 Ukrainian soldiers, according to Moscow.
Prisoner Exchanges Amid Ongoing Tensions
The Il-76 transport aircraft was shot down in the Belgorod region of Russia. Vladimir Putin of Russia asserted that Ukraine was responsible for the plane’s downing via a US Patriot missile.
Ukraine has demanded proof of the passengers’ identities and has neither verified nor denied that it shot down the aircraft.
Throughout the nearly two years since the war commenced, both factions have engaged in intermittent exchanges of prisoners through intermediaries. However, peace negotiations between them have been non-existent since the initial months of the conflict.
The largest transaction occurred on January 3, when 478 captives were exchanged under UAE mediation.
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Putin stated in an interview that it was “by definition impossible” to defeat Russia in Ukraine. But insisted he had no intention of expanding the conflict to neighbouring countries like Poland and Latvia.
He reaffirmed his position that the invasion of Ukraine was imperative to prevent the country from affiliating with NATO and posing a threat to Russia, disavowed any territorial aspirations throughout Europe, and insisted that military deployments would be limited to neighbouring countries in the event of an initial attack.
