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Ukraine announced that a prisoner exchange with Russia may resume, with mediation by Türkiye and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and his Security Council chief said they were hoping for the release of 1,200 Ukrainians.
“We are … counting on the resumption of exchanges,” Zelenskyy said in a video posted on the Telegram messaging app on Sunday. “Many meetings, negotiations and calls are now devoted to this.”
His security chief, Rustem Umerov, said on Saturday that he had held consultations in Türkiye and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), with the support of Kyiv’s partners, on resuming the exchange process.
“As a result of these negotiations, the parties agreed to return to the Istanbul agreements,” he said. “This concerns the release of 1,200 Ukrainians,” Umerov said in a statement on Telegram.
There was no immediate comment from Moscow on Ukraine’s statements.
The Istanbul agreements are prisoner-exchange understandings brokered by Türkiye in 2022, setting out rules for large, coordinated swaps between Russia and Ukraine.
Since then, the two have traded thousands of prisoners, though exchanges have been sporadic and often disrupted by frontline escalation in the war Russia launched against Ukraine in February 2022.
Umerov said that consultations would take place in the near future to decide the procedural and organizational details of the process.
“We are working without pause so that Ukrainians who are to return from captivity can celebrate New Year’s and Christmas at home – at the family table and with their loved ones,” Umerov said.
Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said Saturday that the Russia-Ukraine war has reached “its closest point to stopping,” stressing that the conflict has turned into a costly war of attrition for all involved.
In an interview with Turkish broadcaster A Haber on Saturday, Fidan said European leaders also want the conflict to end. The conflict has reached “its darkest moment,” with both sides focused on destroying each other’s transportation and energy infrastructure.
“They continue hitting conventional military targets, but that front is deadlocked. The war has effectively shifted into a drone battle,” he added.
Pointing out that the situation has become increasingly exhausting for both Moscow and Kyiv, he said that conditions for a cease-fire are in place and that diplomatic efforts are ongoing.
Fidan underlined that the conflict must end. “It has turned into a war of attrition. Neither side is actually gaining much. On the contrary, both have inflicted enormous destruction on one another,” said Fidan.
He noted that while Europe is not directly involved with troops, it is deeply engaged through financial and military support, and “the cost is mounting.”
Fidan added that imposing a blockade on Russia, by stopping energy purchases and halting trade, ultimately deprives Europe of what a major power like Russia provides.
“This comes with a cost. And that cost is producing political consequences for governments,” he said.
Noting that several European governments have changed since the war began, Fidan said rising defense spending will force additional budget cuts, creating mounting political and economic pressures that he warned are not “sustainable.”
“There is now a massive cost problem. The human cost and the broader political costs are no longer manageable or bearable,” he said.
Regarding prospects for peace talks between Russia and Ukraine, he said Türkiye “believes a peace table will be formed … whether in Türkiye or elsewhere.” That peace is not only necessary but inevitable.
