ANKARA: On Wednesday, during their infrequent discussions in Turkey, Russia and Ukraine reached an agreement on a new prisoner exchange and discussed the establishment of a “humanitarian corridor” in the conflict area.
Dmytro Lubinets, the Ukrainian human rights ombudsman, and Tatyana Moskalkova, the Russian counterpart, met in Ankara on the margins of an international conference that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan was attending.
After the discussion, Moskalkova told reporters that they had decided to exchange “more than 40 inmates” from each side.
After three hours of discussion, Cabinets made no mention of numbers in his remarks to reporters.
In a prisoner exchange agreement, Russia and Ukraine trade 50 soldiers apiece.
“The meetings are still going on. We’ll keep going, he said.
During a separate meeting on Thursday, Lubinets and Moskalkova were anticipated to formally exchange the lists and any other potential agreements.
Despite constant warfare over the past 11 months, Ukraine and Russia were able to reach a prisoner swap agreement.
Turkey, a NATO member, has maintained cordial ties with both Moscow and Kyiv while working to set up formal peace negotiations.
In the early months of Russia’s invasion, it hosted two rounds of fruitless negotiations. Later, it assisted in negotiating a settlement that allowed Ukrainian grain shipments over the Black Sea to continue.
Seref Malkoc, a Turkish rights ombudsman, assisted in mediating the discussion on Wednesday.
According to Malkoc, “the two commissioners stated a same demand—to build a humanitarian corridor under Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s patronage, comparable to the grain corridor.”
Erdogan later declared to the global gathering that he was “ready” to run a “corridor for the wounded.”