Russia, Ukraine exchange 300 POWs each

KIEV

Russia and Ukraine exchanged 300 POWs each on Friday, both sides said, the second round of a swap that has seen 500 soldiers from both sides returning home.

The exchange was agreed during trilateral talks with the United States in Geneva last month, both sides said. Prisoner swaps are one of the few areas of cooperation between the warring countries amid stalled negotiations on a deal to end the four-year war.

"Another 300 Ukrainian defenders are returning home from Russian captivity," said Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on social media, adding that two civilians figured among them.

He posted photos showing the soldiers leaving buses draped in Ukrainian flags, smiling, some of them smoking.

The Russian army earlier said that "300 Russian servicemen have been returned. In exchange, 300 prisoners of war of the Ukrainian Armed Forces have been handed over."

On Thursday, Russia and Ukraine each released 200 soldiers. The exchanges were mediated by the United States and the United Arab Emirates.

Prisoner exchanges have been one of the few tangible results of talks between the sides, being pushed and mediated by Washington as it seeks to broker a deal to end the war.

Negotiations appear to have stalled, with the United States now focusing its attention on the Middle East.