(Ankara) Russia and Ukraine have not signed a new prisoner swap deal with Turkey, Moscow’s human rights ombudsman told AFP on Thursday, adding that her earlier remarks on a possible deal been misinterpreted.
Ukrainian and Russian human rights officials Dmytro Loubinets and Tatiana Moskalkova held talks Tuesday in Ankara, a rare meeting at this level between officials from the two countries for several months.
Turkish state news agency Anadolu quoted Mme Moskalkova announcing an agreement for the exchange of more than 40 prisoners from both sides.
Butme Moskalkova told AFP that she was referring to the number of prisoners already exchanged in the past.
“Someone misunderstood something,” she said after talks with her Ukrainian counterpart.
“We talk about the results of our past work. These exchanges have already taken place”.
Mme Moskalkova also clarified that the Ukrainian and Russian mediators also exchanged lists of wounded soldiers in preparation for a possible future exchange.
“Exchanges like this happened all the time. These agreements are made by the military and we work in cooperation with them”.
The two warring parties have had rare direct exchanges since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Wednesday proposed the creation of a “humanitarian corridor” in Ukraine to evacuate vulnerable people from war zones.
“It’s a very important proposal,” said Mr.me Moskalkova, saying she should be discussed with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
“The return of the wounded is a constant topic of our discussions and Mr. Erdogan has proposed a new way to solve it,” she said.
“It needs to be discussed with President Putin and the state agencies involved in this work,” she added.