ISTANBUL
Russia and Ukraine on Thursday confirmed that they conducted a prisoner swap involving 200 people from each side.
The Russian Defense Ministry announced the swap, stating that the Russian servicemen exchanged are in Belarus, where they are receiving the "necessary psychological and medical assistance."
According to a statement by the Russian Foreign Ministry, the exchange was made possible “thanks to the humanitarian mediation of the United Arab Emirates and the United States.”
It added that a second exchange of 300 for 300 is scheduled for Friday.
Separately, Russian presidential aide Vladimir Medinsky wrote on Telegram that Moscow and Kyiv will complete the exchange of 500 prisoners of war in total from each side on Thursday and Friday, as part of agreements reached during peace talks in Geneva, Switzerland.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy later confirmed the exchange as well, thanking Washington in a statement through US social media company X for its "support in making this exchange possible."
"Those released from captivity will undergo a full medical examination, receive assistance with physical and psychological rehabilitation," Ukraine’s Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War said in a separate statement on Telegram.
Russia, Ukraine, and the US have held three rounds of peace talks since the start of the year -- on Jan. 23-24, Feb. 4-5 and Feb. 17-18 -- the first two of which were held in the Emirati capital Abu Dhabi. The third round took place in Geneva.