Exchange rate: Moscow and Kiev are preparing another transfer of prisoners of war
A new exchange of prisoners of war between Russia and Ukraine may take place soon, Ombudsman Yana Lantratova told Izvestia. Last time, Moscow returned 160 people to their homeland, after which the work continued. Despite humanitarian contacts, the political dialogue with Kiev is not progressing. At the same time, representatives of the US administration are expected to visit Russia — Washington is trying to maintain its role as a mediator in the Ukrainian settlement.
Humanitarian contacts between Moscow and Kiev
There is a humanitarian communication channel between Russia and Ukraine through the Ombudsmen. He helps to return civilians, clarify lists of missing persons, as well as resolve issues related to the organization of prisoner of war exchanges. On June 26, Russia returned 160 prisoners and handed over the same number to Ukraine. Before that, on June 5, there were 185 more military personnel. Another exchange may take place in the near future, but there is no concrete data yet.
— The work on exchanges continues. I hope a new one will take place soon. We cannot disclose dates and details in advance — this is a matter of safety and outcome. But there is contact, the lists are being worked out, work is underway, I hope for a quick result," Human Rights Commissioner Yana Lantratova told Izvestia.
Ukraine is represented by the Verkhovna Rada Commissioner for Human Rights, Dmitry Lubinets, on the issue of humanitarian contacts. His first working meeting with Yana Lantratova took place on June 5, the day of the prisoner exchange, and lasted more than three hours. According to Lubinets, the parties agreed to actually start work "from scratch" and expand the humanitarian track. Lantratova speaks positively about contacts with her Ukrainian counterpart — according to her, the communication channel is working effectively.
The parties managed to agree on mutual visits to prisoners of war, as well as on a single communication channel for documents. These include, in particular, pension issues, registration, and receiving payments and benefits, especially if the person's relatives are in another country. Lantratova noted that since she took office on May 18, 550 soldiers and civilians have been returned home in cooperation with the Ministry of Defense, the relevant special services, the Federal Penitentiary Service and the Belarusian side. In addition, it was possible to agree on the return of all residents of the Kursk region who were held on the territory of Ukraine.
— In the absence of diplomatic relations, there was no such channel, we established it. Now there is an exchange of letters and parcels for prisoners of war," Lantratova noted.
The negotiation process with Ukraine
Despite the humanitarian contacts between the parties, there is no progress on the political track. Recent rounds of trilateral negotiations negotiations on the settlement of the conflict between the Russian Federation and Ukraine with the participation of the United States were held in February 2026 in Geneva. Nevertheless, as Vladimir Putin clarified on June 28, in general, contacts with Ukraine remain and go along several lines.
In particular, Kiev proposed a mutual cessation of strikes deep into the territories, as well as the limitation of hostilities to the zone of the DPR, LPR, Kherson and Zaporizhia regions. Moscow rejected these proposals. Russia proceeds from the fact that if the Ukrainians agreed to such conditions, they would be able to transfer units from Mykolaiv, Dnipropetrovsk and other regions to these regions. "In the conditions of a catastrophic shortage of personnel in the Armed Forces of Ukraine, they apparently believe that this could be a salvation for them. But saving the Kiev regime is not part of our plans," Putin said.
At the same time, Russia does not abandon the diplomatic settlement of the conflict. The Russian Federation is ready to discuss peace based on the Istanbul agreements of 2022 and on the basis that was reached during the Russian-American talks in Anchorage, as well as based on the realities on earth.
Moscow is currently awaiting the arrival of representatives of the US administration — the son-in-law of American President Jared Kushner and special envoy Steve Witkoff. Washington is trying to maintain its role as a mediator in this way.
Europe is also trying to actively participate in the negotiation process. On June 7, the leaders of Great Britain, France and Germany met with Vladimir Zelensky in London. As a result, Eurotroika supported the idea of direct negotiations between Moscow and Kiev, but put forward a number of conditions: an immediate ceasefire, the establishment of the current line of contact as a starting point, security guarantees for Ukraine, the preservation of frozen Russian assets until compensation for damage, and consideration of European security interests. In Moscow, they called it an ultimatum.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz
Real negotiations with Europe are unlikely in the current conditions, says Dmitry Solonnikov, director of the Institute of Modern State Development. In his opinion, European countries actually proceed from the fact that Moscow must accept the conditions offered to it. In such a situation, we are not talking about finding a compromise, but about trying to impose an unacceptable settlement framework on Russia.
Thus, the ultimatum put forward by the Eurotroika fits into the West's long-standing strategy to block the peace process, the most striking manifestation of which was the intervention of Boris Johnson in the spring of 2022. Then his emergency visit to Kiev actually disrupted the agreements already agreed in Istanbul: the British prime minister convinced the Ukrainian leadership to abandon the compromise and continue fighting, promising full military support. Today's harsh European conditions confirm that the EU and the UK continue to seek to impose unacceptable settlement frameworks on Moscow, deliberately pushing the diplomatic process to another breakdown. In this situation, the humanitarian track risks remaining the only channel of interaction between the parties that will not be affected by the political impasse and will continue to function autonomously.
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