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Ukraine continues to sabotage prisoner exchange — Russian diplomat

"The problem is that they do not take back their own people," Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova added

Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova Russian Foreign Ministry Press Service/TASS

Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova

© Russian Foreign Ministry Press Service/TASS

MOSCOW, December 3. /TASS/. The Kiev regime is sabotaging the prisoner exchange process and refusing to accept 630 Ukrainian citizens, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said.

"The Kiev regime continues to sabotage the prisoner exchange process in every possible way, doing everything to move away from real concrete work that has yielded results to endless international political performances, considering such procrastination as a media tool to promote its interests," the diplomat wrote on her Telegram channel.

"So be it. The problem is that they do not take back their own people. [Vladimir] Zelensky does not need the 630 captured Ukrainian citizens. He has given them up," she pointed out.

Zakharova recalled that earlier this year the Russian Defense Ministry had sent Ukraine proposals for the transfer of 935 Ukrainian prisoners of war as part of the exchange. "At the same time, the Kiev regime refused to return (in other words, take back) more than 600 Ukrainian servicemen without any reasons," the diplomat noted. "As of today, the list includes 630 Ukrainian prisoners of war, whom Russia is ready to immediately transfer to Kiev on equal terms," she emphasized.

"Therefore, when you hear that Russia allegedly does not want to conduct an exchange and does not want to give Ukraine its people - this is a lie. There are figures and facts," the spokeswoman concluded.

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Foreign policy Ukraine Maria Zakharova

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