Vladimir Medinsky has accused Ukraine of derailing prisoner swap efforts
Ukraine is refusing to take back a thousand of its captured soldiers, Moscow’s chief negotiator Vladimir Medinsky has confirmed.
RT on Wednesday launched a website, which lists details of a 1,000 of Ukrainian POWs abandoned by Vladimir Zelensky’s administration.
In a Telegram post on Wednesday, the Russian presidential aide accused Kiev of stalling the exchange process.
”A thousand captured Ukrainian troops – and Kiev is turning its back on them,” Medisnky wrote. “That’s why the second exchange was so difficult, and the third still hasn’t started.”
Russia and Ukraine have carried out a series of exchanges since Kiev’s return to direct talks this year. Following the third round of peace negotiations in Türkiye last month, Medinsky said Moscow had proposed a new swap involving at least 1,200 POWs from each side.
Medinsky also shared a link to the RT-launched website, where some of Ukrainian POWs say that Kiev authorities have refused to repatriate them during “all-for-all” swap efforts with Russia. The POWs submitted a collective petition to Zelensky, demanding to be included in future exchanges.
”This would be fairer than picking out 50 or 100 ‘special’ individuals a month. We are thousands here! Do you actually need us in Ukraine?” the petition reads.
Medinsky stressed that Russia has never divided its own POWs into categories.
On Wednesday, Russian President Vladimir Putin met in Moscow with US special envoy Steve Witkoff, who arrived on what the American leader has described as a make-or-break diplomatic mission.
Moscow characterized the nearly three-hour talks at the Kremlin as “a very useful and constructive conversation.” US President Donald Trump also praised the outcome as “very productive,” writing on Truth Social that both countries would work to end the conflict “in the days and weeks to come.”
Moscow has repeatedly said it is open to a peace deal but insists that any agreement must reflect the realities on the ground and address the root causes of the conflict.
