The last week saw important developments in relation to the Russia-Ukraine war. The countries exchanged 190 prisoners with each other and Russia responded to Donald Trump’s claim that it could quickly end the war.

Russia and Ukraine exchange 190 prisoners

Russia and Ukraine on Wednesday carried out a major prisoner swap, 190 in total, in their third such exchange in the past seven weeks, following negotiations brokered by the United Arab Emirates.

President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said the 95 Ukrainians who were released were servicemen and thanked the UAE for its help. For its part, the Russian defence ministry said the returned soldiers would undergo medical examinations and physical and psychological rehabilitation, as the freed troops had faced ‘mortal danger’ during their captivity in Ukraine.

The exchange was the third in the past seven weeks, the first announced in late May and the second in June, with Russia and Ukraine each returning 90 prisoners. 

In total, Kiev has secured the return of 3,405 people from Russian captivity since the start of the Russian invasion in February 2022, the Ukrainian Coordinating Committee for the Treatment of Prisoners of War reported. It said seven officers and 88 soldiers and sergeants were released, and most had been in captivity since 2022.

‘Many returning Ukrainian soldiers suffer from the consequences of their wounds and have chronic illnesses that require long-term treatment,’ the committee said.

Russia says to be realistic about Trump’s plan to end war in Ukraine

Russia said Donald Trump’s claim that he could quickly end the war in Ukraine should be viewed realistically, given that he had promised a breakthrough towards peace in the Middle East but failed to achieve it during his presidency.

Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said Moscow had taken note of the statements by Trump, who is running against President Joe Biden in November, and his running mate, JD Vance.

‘We saw the statements: Trump said he would resolve the conflict within 24 hours, then Vance said China is a bigger problem for the United States than the Russia-Ukraine conflict,’ Zakharova told reporters. ‘It is necessary to separate pre-election rhetoric from statements by government officials with appropriate powers. If we talk about whether it is possible to resolve the conflict, let’s be realistic.’

Zakharova said Trump, during his presidency (2017-2021), had made ambitious statements about resolving the Middle East conflict. ‘They prepared for a long time for the ‘deal of the century’, but it ended in nothing, and under Biden, on the contrary, a colossal historical tragedy occurred,’ she said, referring to the Gaza war.

Last month, Putin said Russia was willing to end the war, but only if Ukraine ceded all four regions that Moscow claims to have annexed. Ukraine immediately rejected those conditions, saying they would amount to surrender.