Russia and Ukraine released 390 prisoners each on Friday (May 23), initiating the largest exchange operation since the outbreak of the war in 2022. Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov stated that after the exchange, Moscow will present Kiev with a draft of a long-term peace agreement. U.S. President Trump congratulated the move, calling it a potential “significant progress”.
This exchange operation was one of the agreements reached by Russian and Ukrainian representatives in talks in Turkey last week. Both sides announced that they released 270 soldiers and 120 civilians respectively on Friday, with more releases expected on Saturday and Sunday.
The released Ukrainian personnel were transported by bus to medical facilities in Chernihiv in northern Chernihiv Oblast, while the Russian personnel were taken to Belarus for psychological and medical assistance.
Trump congratulated the exchange, posting on the social platform Truth Social, “Congratulations on the negotiation reached by both sides. This may lead to significant progress.”
It is widely believed that Trump is playing a key mediating role in the Russian-Ukrainian peace talks. U.S. officials, including Secretary of State Rubio, have recently stated that if peace negotiations stall, further sanctions against Russia will be considered. However, Trump has not taken any further action after speaking with Russian President Putin.
Lavrov emphasized that Russia is committed to promoting a peaceful resolution and stressed the importance of “keeping dialogue open”.
Lavrov said, “We are still committed to promoting a peaceful resolution. We are always willing to negotiate…I want to emphasize that we will implement the agreement reached recently in Istanbul.”
“We are actively working on the second part of the agreement, whereby both sides will prepare draft documents listing the conditions for a reliable and long-term solution.”
“Once the prisoner exchange is completed, we will submit this draft document being prepared by Russia to Ukraine,” he said.
Lavrov also accused Ukrainian forces of launching multiple drone attacks on targets within Russia in recent days, claiming that about 800 drones have attacked Russian territory in the past three days, resulting in casualties and disrupting air traffic.
He stated that this was a direct consequence of EU leaders visiting Kiev in support of Ukraine, and alleged that these actions were “aimed at disrupting peace talks”.
Ukraine has stated that they are ready to discuss ceasefire and negotiation formats, and are waiting for specific proposals from Russia.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Sybiha told the media that Kiev supports a meeting between Russian and Ukrainian leaders and advocates for expanding the format of the talks, stating, “We greatly hope that President Trump can participate.”
However, despite the seemingly imminent dawn of peace talks, the conflict continues to escalate. Ukraine reported an attack on a battery factory in Lipetsk in central Russia. Russian forces, on the other hand, attacked the Ukrainian port of Odesa with missiles, resulting in at least two fatalities. Multiple shelling incidents have been reported in the Donetsk region of eastern Ukraine, leading to three deaths.