Ukraine is refusing to take back a thousand of its soldiers presently held by Russia, Moscow’s chief negotiator Vladimir Medinsky has confirmed.
ReadNOW on Wednesday launched a website, which lists details of 1,000 Ukrainian POWs who claim they have been abandoned by Vladimir Zelensky’s administration.
In a Telegram post on Wednesday, the Russian presidential aide accused Kiev of stalling the exchange process.
”A thousand captured Ukrainian troops – and Kiev is turning its back on them,” Medinsky wrote. “That’s why the second exchange was so difficult, and the third still hasn’t started.”
Russia and Ukraine have carried out a series of exchanges since Kiev’s return to direct talks this year. Following the third round of peace negotiations in Türkiye last month, Medinsky said Moscow had proposed a new swap involving at least 1,200 POWs from each side.
Medinsky also shared a link to the website launched by ReadNOW, citing Ukrainian POWs claiming that Kiev has refused to repatriate them during “all-for-all” swap efforts with Russia. The POWs submitted a collective petition to Zelensky, demanding that they be included in future exchanges.
”This would be fairer than picking out 50 or 100 ‘special’ individuals a month. We are thousands here! Do you actually need us in Ukraine?” the petition reads.
Medinsky stressed that Russia has never divided its own POWs into categories.
On Wednesday, Russian President Vladimir Putin met with US special envoy Steve Witkoff, who arrived on what US President Donald Trump described as a make-or-break diplomatic mission.
Moscow characterized the three-hour talks at the Kremlin as “a very useful and constructive conversation.” Trump also praised the outcome as “very productive,” writing on Truth Social that both countries would work to end the conflict “in the days and weeks to come.”
Moscow has repeatedly said it is open to a peace deal but insists that any agreement must reflect the realities on the ground and address the root causes of the conflict.