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TEHRAN, Sept 07 -Russia and Ukraine carried out a long-awaited prisoner swap on Saturday in a step that could thaw a deep freeze in relations since Moscow’s annexation of the Crimea region in 2014.
TEHRAN, Young Journalists Club (YJC) -While the unfolding exchange could help rebuild confidence between Moscow and Kiev and allow them to start negotiating seriously on other issues, any road to a full rapprochement is likely to be long and complex.
After lengthy negotiations, expectations have been running high for the prisoner swap, which had been described as imminent by the leaders of both countries in recent days.
On Saturday a Russian aircraft carrying freed Russian prisoners from Kiev landed in Moscow while a Ukrainian plane with released Ukrainian prisoners aboard touched down in Kiev.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy hugged and shook hands with the freed Ukrainians while Russia’s Rossiya 24 TV showed Russian prisoners disembarking the plane in Moscow.
Zelenskiy told reporters at the Kiev airport that the swap was part of his deal with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
He said all steps had to be taken “to finish this horrible war,” referring to the five-year-old conflict with pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine.
The swap was carried out on a “35-to-35” basis, Interfax news agency quoted Russian human rights commissioner Tatyana Moskalkova as saying. “Ukraine has handed out 35 people to Russia, we handed out the same number to Ukraine,” she said.
LINGERING SEPARATIST CONFLICT
Though Ukraine’s demands for the return of Crimea have fallen on deaf ears in Russia, Saturday’s exchange will be seen in some quarters as a win for Zelenskiy, who swept to power this year promising to repatriate compatriots held in Russia.
source:reuters
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