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Ukraine’s Zelensky says next swap with Russia is under preparation

On September 7, Moscow and Kiev swapped prisoners on the ‘35 for 35’ formula

© Official website of the President of Ukraine/Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International

KIEV, September 13. /TASS/. Ukraine is preparing a new swap of detainees with Russia, Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky said Friday at the Yalta European Strategy forum in Kiev.

"We are now preparing other lists and are expecting a new stage of the swap. We will talk this in Minsk and in the Normandy Four," he said.

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New prisoner swap between Moscow and Kiev likely this year

"We are expecting a Normandy Four meeting between leaders of four countries (Ukraine, Russia, France and Germany - TASS)," Zelensky continued. "We are expecting this meeting, calling on our western partners and will be looking for this meeting to be held before the end of September. I think it will surely take place. We cannot linger any longer."

On September 7, Moscow and Kiev swapped prisoners on the ‘35 for 35’ formula. Preparations for the prisoner swap intensified after Vladimir Zelensky had been elected Ukraine’s president. Several weeks ago, the negotiations entered an active phase and legal procedures began for the two countries’ nationals who had been added to the list. On September 5, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that the exchange would be massive and might be a step towards mending bilateral ties.

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