Ukraine and Russia working on major swap: 800 people on Ukraine's list, 200 on Russia's

Şeref Malkoç, Ombudsman of Turkey, has announced that Ukraine and Russia are working on a major exchange which could involve 1,000 people in total.

Source: CNN Turk

Quote: "At the meeting I attended, the Ukrainian Ombudsman [Dmytro Lubinets] handed over a list of 800 people to the Russian side. The Russian Ombudswoman [Tatyana Moskalkova] handed over a list of 200 people to her Ukrainian counterpart. The exchange is not limited to this. It is a list of wounded and captured individuals. In addition, there are thousands of children, there are women, there are other problems.

If we can set up an Istanbul Platform, these issues can be discussed more easily. We are in the process of setting up this mechanism."

Details: Malkoç added that by the end of the negotiations, the Ukrainian and Russian Ombudspeople had reached an agreement on about 40 amendments to the lists, most of which included wounded civilian and military personnel.

Malkoç noted that Turkey is ready to establish a humanitarian corridor in Istanbul for any exchange.

Meanwhile, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan spoke with Russian dictator Vladimir Putin and again offered to mediate in talks between Ukraine and the Russian Federation.

Erdoğan is expected to meet with Putin and Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelenskyy in the near future to discuss opening a humanitarian corridor.

If Turkey's proposal is accepted, a humanitarian corridor will be established in Istanbul for the exchange of wounded civilians, military personnel, elderly people, children and women.

It should be noted that long before the visit, Ukrainian Ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets announced that he planned to talk to Tatyana Moskalkova, his Russian counterpart, about the release of Ukrainian civilians from captivity.

Background: 

• On 2 January, Lubinets announced that he was planning a meeting with Moskalkova regarding the release of prisoners, including civilians.
• On 10 January, it was reported that the meeting between Lubinets and Moskalkova regarding the release of prisoners would take place in Ankara and in an expanded format with Turkish involvement.

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