Prisoners to be exchanged between Ukraine and Russia are being chosen, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Vadym Prystaiko said, denying that the process was related to the Normandy-format summit of Ukraine, France, Germany, and Russia.
“We are preparing for a more extensive exchange. […] This is not a waiting period, this is the period when proper candidates are being chosen for the exchange, their cases are being studied, and the possibility of their release is being considered,” Prystaiko said in an interview with the Television News Service (TNS).
As to whether the exchange will take place before or after the Normandy-format summit, Prystaiko said, “I’d like it to happen as soon as possible. We do not link it to the Normandy-format summit at all. If the summit helps with the exchange, we will have nothing against this. To put it mildly, we see every delay in the release of our people as a tragedy. There is absolutely no connection.”
In Prystaiko’s words, “it will take a couple of weeks to disengage forces and hardware in designated areas of Donbas. I’d like to believe that […] the chiefs of four states will meet as early as in November.”
Russia and Ukraine conducted “35-for-35” prisoner swap on September 7.
Prystaiko said on October 12 that the new exchange would include three groups of prisoners. “The process has entered the decisive stage, but I will not tell you about the number of involved people and the date. This exchange will be much more difficult. It will engage several groups, about three groups of people whom we want to exchange,” the minister said in an interview with Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty.
