President Donald Trump announced on Friday, May 23 that a “great exchange of prisoners” had just “concluded” between Russia and Ukraine.
“It will come into force shortly. Congratulations to the two games for this negotiation,” he wrote about his social network of truth.
Before asking if this agreement could “lead” to “something huge”, possible reference to negotiations between belligerents.
During the Russian-Ukraine conversations that were held in Istanbul in Türkiye on Friday, May 16, the delegations had only agreed an exchange of 1,000 prisoners. “Above 1,000 against 1,000,” said Russian chief negotiator Vladimir Medinsky.
The Kremlin said Thursday, May 22, having transmitted a list of 1,000 prisoners to Ukraine and wait for the kyiv list in return.
A second round of negotiations?
The exchange of prisoners was the only way to get out of these conversations in Istanbul: the high the unconditional fire of the 30 days desired by the Ukrainians and the Europeans remained a dead letter. The negotiations, under the auspices of the United States, suffer, President Volodymyr Zelensky accusing Moscow “of trying to save time” to continue his invasion.
This Friday, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said there will be a second round of negotiations with Ukraine “whose” the calendar and the place have not been determined. “
However, the Russian diplomat expressed doubts about the election of the Vatican as a potential place of a second Russian-Ukrainian meeting, after Pope Leo XIV, the United States and Italy have advanced the idea.
“It would not be very elegant for orthodox countries to discuss in Catholic lands of questions related to the elimination of deep causes” of the conflict in Ukraine, said Sergei Lavrov, judging that the Vatican would not be “very comfortable” if he had to give them to welcome them.
Source: BFM TV
