Russia and Ukraine fought over details of the massive prisoner swap, and Kiev officials refused a claim by Russian negotiators that they were limping into a planned exchange.
The swap is set to be the largest of Russia’s full-scale invasions of Ukraine to date, and is now in its fourth year, agreeing to talks in Turkey this week.
Vladimir Medinsky, head of the Russian negotiation team, said Moscow is ready to proceed with the extradition, including the refrigerated bodies of thousands of Ukrainian soldiers who were killed but hampered during the action.
Without providing an official explanation, the Ukrainian side “expectedly postponed both the body and prisoner exchange,” said in a Telegram post.
“We are calling on Kiev to adhere to the schedule and all agreements and to begin swaps immediately,” he said.
The Ukrainian POW Coordination Center responded, saying that Russia had slowed the process by providing information on swaps that were not in line with the agreed approach.
Ukraine said it submitted its personnel list according to well-defined standards. “Unfortunately, instead of constructive dialogue, we are once again faced with manipulation and try to reach information targets using sensitive humanitarian themes.”
The Centre called on Russia to return to “constructive work” and made the process come back to life in the next few days.
