Russia and Ukraine each said on Wednesday that 150 of their captured soldiers had been returned in the latest prisoner-of-war exchange between the two warring countries.
The two sides regularly swap prisoners of war in one of the only forms of cooperation between Kyiv and Moscow amid the nearly three-year war.
鈥楽ome of the guys had been in captivity for more than two years,鈥� Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky said in a post on social media.
Zelensky said 150 Ukrainian troops were being brought back, but did not mention handing over any Russian soldiers.
Russia鈥檚 defence ministry said it had swapped 150 captured Ukrainian troops for the return of 150 Russians held by Kyiv.
Its troops were undergoing medical checks in allied Belarus before returning to Russia, it said.
Zelensky posted photos showing the troops, some draped in Ukrainian flags, sitting in a bus on the way back to Ukraine.
Both sides said the deal was mediated by the United Arab Emirates, which has helped broker many such exchanges.
Meanwhile, the Kremlin on Wednesday dismissed Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky saying he was ready for direct talks with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin as 鈥榚mpty words鈥�.
Talk of a negotiated end to the nearly three-year conflict has risen with Donald Trump 鈥� who has pledged to end the fighting 鈥� back in the White House and Ukraine鈥檚 troops struggling on the battlefield in the east.
Asked how he would feel if he sat opposite Putin at a negotiating table, Zelensky told British journalist Piers Morgan in an interview published Tuesday: 鈥業f that is the only set-up in which we can bring peace to the citizens of Ukraine and not lose people, definitely we will go for this set-up.鈥�
鈥楽o far this cannot be seen as anything but empty words,鈥� Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told journalists.
Putin last week said Moscow would hold talks with Ukraine, but ruled out speaking directly to Zelensky.
A decree signed by Zelensky in 2022 rules out direct talks with Putin 鈥� something Peskov pointed to on Wednesday and that Moscow regularly highlights when asked if it is ready for talks with Kyiv.
The Kremlin spokesman also reiterated Russia鈥檚 frequent claim that Zelensky is not a legitimate president, as his five-year mandate in office expired last year.
Under martial law, Ukraine has a ban on holding elections.
鈥榋elensky has big problems de jure (legally) in Ukraine. But even despite that we remain ready for talks,鈥� Peskov said.
Zelensky told Morgan he would be ready for talks with Putin involving 鈥榝our participants鈥�, after the interviewer raised the possibility of talks between Russia, Ukraine, the EU and the US.
The Kremlin spokesman said that the 鈥榬eality on the ground says that Kyiv has to be the first to demonstrate openness and interest in such talks鈥�, apparently referring to recent Russian military advances.
After the interview, Zelensky posted comments Wednesday on social media saying that talks with Putin in themselves would be a 鈥榗ompromise鈥� for Ukraine and its allies.
