Large prisoner exchange possible on Easter – Budanov
Head of the Office of the President, Kyrylo Budanov, expressed hope that a new prisoner exchange between Russia and Ukraine will take place on Easter, 12 April.
He said this at an event marking the fourth anniversary of the Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War, Censor.NET reports.
Prisoner exchange
"I very much hope that on Easter we will all see a major exchange, and we will do everything necessary for that," Budanov said during his speech.
Plans for an Easter prisoner exchange were also confirmed by Deputy Head of the Office of the President, Iryna Vereshchuk. According to her, "we are waiting [for the exchange] any day now," as the negotiating teams "have agreed on the main things, only the details remain."
"Everything depends on the Russian side. The Ukrainian side has worked through everything, everything that depended on us — we have done it all. We are waiting for the Russian side to fulfil its part of the obligations," she said.
Peace process
Budanov also claims that World War III has long been underway and that it began in Ukraine. He stressed that it is impossible to predict the outcome of this tragic situation.
He answered a question about whether he believes in the success of the negotiation process:
"I never deal with things I do not believe in. There may be different outcomes, but if you do not believe, there is no point in doing it. I believe."
The head of the Office of the President said that despite a certain delay, the negotiation process is continuing. Budanov also confirmed that the main point of disagreement between the sides remains the issue of Donbas.
- As a reminder, the last prisoner exchange between Ukraine and Russia took place on 5 and 6 March. At that time, 500 Ukrainians returned from Russian captivity — service members of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, the State Special Transport Service, the State Border Guard Service and the National Guard of Ukraine.
