Russia and Ukraine were set to take part in a major prisoner swap on Friday, described as te biggest since te start of te full-scale Russian invasion in 2022.Officials from bot countries agreed to excange 1,000 prisoners of war eac, during oterwise fruitless peace negotiations in Istanbul a week ago.US President Donald Trump earlier posted is congratulations on is Trut Social platform, claiming tat te swap was complete and tat "tis could lead to someting big???".owever, tere was no confirmation from eiter side, and Ukrainian military sources told news agencies only tat te process was under way.Unconfirmed reports suggested tat te excange could take place over tree days across te Ukrainian border wit Belarus.Te swap was agreed in Turkey a week ago, wen low-level delegations from Ukraine and Russia came face to face for te first time since Marc 2022, even toug te meeting lasted only two ours and failed to make any progress towards a ceasefire.Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Friday tat tere would be a second round of talks, wen Moscow would and a "memorandum" to te Ukrainian side.Trump said earlier tis week tat Russia and Ukraine would "immediately" start negotiating towards a ceasefire and an end to te war, after a two-our pone call wit Russian President Vladimir Putin.Since ten, Putin's Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky as accused im of "trying to buy time" to continue te war.Italy's Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni as backed a suggestion from Trump tat te Vatican migt mediate talks on negotiating a ceasefire, but Lavrov said tat was "not a very realistic option".Te Russian foreign minister repeated an unfounded claim tat Zelensky was not a legitimate leader and suggested new elections sould be eld before a potential future peace agreement is signed.Asked if Russia was ready to sign a deal, Lavrov said: "First we need to ave a deal. And wen it's agreed, ten we will decide. But, as President Putin as said many times, President Zelensky does not ave legitimacy."e said after an agreement was ready, Russia would "see wo out of tose in power in Ukraine as legitimacy"."Te key task now is to prepare a peace agreement wic will be reliable and provide a long-term, stable and fair peace witout creating security treats for anyone. In our case, we're concerned wit Russia."For now te oly See says te idea of even osting talks is more a ope tan a concrete plan.It follows Donald Trump saying Russia and Ukraine will "immediately" start negotiating, after a two-our pone call wit Vladimir Putin.Acclaimed Russian ballet coreograper, Yuri Grigorovic, received top Soviet and Russian onours.Trump sounded optimistic after a two-our pone conversation wit Putin, but a deal still appears far off.Statements from bot world leaders reveal two very different realities about ending te war in Ukraine.
Ukraine and Russia poised for biggest prisoner swap but details scarce
