The Ukrainian presidency announced Thursday April 16 the start of a new exchange of prisoners between government forces and pro-Russian separatists in the east of the country, the third since the coming to power of Volodimir Zelenski who raised the hope for normalization of relations between Ukraine and Russia.
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The exchange, which will result in the release of 19 Ukrainian nationals, "demonstrates the effectiveness of the president's strategy and respect for the agreements reached at the Normandy summit in December 2019," argued the services of the Ukrainian president in a press release which does not specify the number of prisoners released in exchange.
Some 13,000 people have been killed since the spring of 2014 in the conflict between Ukrainian forces in eastern Ukraine and pro-Russian separatist fighters following the annexation of the Ukrainian Crimea peninsula by Russia.
Concluded in 2015 to settle the conflict, the Minsk agreements had largely remained a dead letter since despite the efforts made by France and Germany but opening signals multiplied in 2019, notably with the exchange in September of 70 prisoners - 35 on each side - including 24 Ukrainian sailors.
Three weeks after their first meeting in Paris, Volodimir Zelenski, in power since May 2019, and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin also agreed in late December to prepare a new exchange of prisoners and to this end draw up a list of Ukrainians, including those detained in Crimea, annexed by Russia, and pro-Russian separatists.