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Prisoners exchange is not on agenda of Russian-Ukrainian delegations’ talks — Kremlin

Earlier, Russian Presidential Aide Vladimir Medinsky, who leads the Russian delegation at the bilateral negotiations, announced on his Telegram channel that the delegations of the two countries decided to hold the next round of face-to-face talks on March 29-30

MOSCOW, March 28. /TASS/. An issue of prisoners exchange is on not on the agenda of upcoming talks between the Russian and Ukrainian delegations in Istanbul this week, Russian Presidential Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Monday.

"It is not on the agenda of the scheduled negotiations between the two delegations [in Istanbul]. Therefore, my answer is ‘No,’" Peskov told journalists in response to a corresponding question.

Earlier, Russian Presidential Aide Vladimir Medinsky, who leads the Russian delegation at the bilateral negotiations, announced on his Telegram channel that the delegations of the two countries decided to hold the next round of face-to-face talks on March 29-30. The press service of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan reported shortly after that the Turkish leader and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin had agreed to hold the meeting of the delegations rom Russia and Ukraine in Istanbul.

Russian Human Rights Commissioner Tatyana Moskalkova said last Tuesday that the 1st prisoners swap between Russia and Ukraine took place earlier that week. Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova announced the following day that Moscow and Kiev held two exchanges of prisoners, while the Russian Defense Ministry organized daily humanitarian corridors for Ukrainian civilians.

On February 21, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed decrees at a ceremony in the Kremlin recognizing the Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) and the Lugansk People’s Republic (LPR). Putin met with DPR leader Denis Pushilin and LPR leader Leonid Pasechnik, and signed treaties with them on friendship, cooperation and mutual aid between Russia and both republics.

President Putin said in a televised address on February 24 that in response to a request from the heads of the Donbass republics, he had decided to carry out a special military operation in order to protect people "who have been suffering from the Kiev regime’s abuse and genocide for eight years." The Russian leader stressed that Moscow had no plans to occupy Ukrainian territory.

The Russian Defense Ministry had reassured earlier that Russian troops are not targeting Ukrainian cities, and were limited to conducting surgical strikes and incapacitating Ukrainian military infrastructure, insisting that there is no threat whatsoever to the civilian population.