Donald Trump has hinted at ‘something big’ coming in Ukraine and revealed that Moscow and Kyiv have agreed to hand over 1,000 prisoners of war from both sides.
The American president said on his social media platform, Truth Social: ‘A major prisoners swap was just shortly completed between Russia and Ukraine.
‘Congratulations to both sides on this negotiation. This could lead to something big???’
Ukrainian officials told the Financial Times that the swap will see each side hand over 1,000 prisoners each, as agreed during peace talks in Turkey that Vladimir Putin failed to attend.
The swaps have today begun, with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky revealing: ‘The first stage of the ‘1000-for-1000′ exchange agreement has been carried out. Today – 390 people. On Saturday and Sunday, we expect the exchange to continue.’
Russia’s defence ministry added: ‘270 Russian servicemen and 120 civilians including peaceful residents of the Kursk region captured by the Ukrainian army were returned… In exchange, 270 Ukrainian prisoners of war and 120 civilians were handed over.’
White House and National Security Council officials did not immediately respond to requests for further details.
The exchange was agreed last week in the first direct Russia-Ukraine peace talks since the early weeks of Moscow’s 2022 invasion of its neighbour.
That meeting in Turkey lasted just two hours and brought no breakthrough in international diplomatic efforts to stop the fighting.
Donald Trump (pictured) has hinted at ‘something big’ coming in Ukraine and revealed that Moscow and Kyiv have agreed to hand over 1,000 prisoners of war from both sides
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky attends a maeeting with the Crown Prince of Norway in Kyiv, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine
Ukrainian prisoners of war get off a bus after arriving in Ukraine on May 6, 2025 in Chernihiv, Ukraine
Despite the positive steps, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov continued to stoke tensions, telling reporters today that Moscow would not allow Russian-speakers in Ukraine to remain under the rule of what he called a ‘junta’ led by President Volodymyr Zelensky.
Lavrov said it would be a ‘crime’ for Russia to allow this to happen. He added that the simplest way to settle the conflict would be for the international community to demand that Ukraine cancel laws discriminating against Russian-speakers.
Kyiv denies any such discrimination.
Lavrov’s comments highlighted Russia’s insistence, in any peace talks, on enforcing the same demands it made at the very start of the war.
Earlier this month, Russia and Ukraine swapped 205 POWs as part of an exchange mediated by the UAE.
Countless Ukrainian soldiers are being held in horrific conditions in Russian prisoners, and are being subjected to physical and moral torture, sexual violence, illegal sentencing and violent execution according to former POWs.
Volodymyr Labuzov, chief medical officer of the 36th Marine Brigade, was one of them. He was stationed in Mariupol when Russia started its full-scale invasion in early 2022.
Labuzov told Euronews that along with soldiers, Vladimir Putin’s nation has been holding thousands of Ukrainian civilians, including children, captive ‘who have nothing to do with the Armed Forces of Ukraine and they should be returned without any conditions, without any agreements.’
‘Russia doesn’t make any difference between the soldiers and civilians in their captivity’, Labuzov told the outlet.
He added that most of the civilians being held by Russia were kidnapped from ‘the territories that Russia allegedly liberated and allegedly brought them happiness and freedom. But the treatment is the same for both civilians and military personnel.’
Currently, it is not known exactly how many civilians are being held by Russia.
‘They are now forced into such conditions that if you want just to live or to even walk the streets of your villages, you must take Russian citizenship. Without Russian citizenship – you are a nobody, you have no rights,’ Labuzov said.