Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine, Rustem Umerov, stated that an exchange of prisoners of war is currently underway between Russia and Ukraine. Further steps regarding a ceasefire, according to him, may take place after trilateral and bilateral meetings in Washington. He said this in an interview with CNN, as reported by UNN.
When asked whether work is currently underway to prepare for future negotiations between Russia and Ukraine aimed at ending the war, Umerov replied that for now, work on the humanitarian part of past negotiations is mostly continuing.
We participated in three meetings in Turkey. We are currently continuing the humanitarian part, where we are releasing prisoner exchanges.
He added that he hopes that some further steps in this regard will take place after the meeting in Washington.
On the other hand, as you know, (the US - ed.) agreed that trilateral and bilateral meetings will take place after the visit to Washington. So at this stage, I think we are waiting for the trilateral and bilateral meetings to be held.
When asked about Trump's latest statement, in which he said that "Russia is letting him down," Umerov noted that in his personal opinion, "President Trump is the only person who is capable and able to end this war."
At this stage, Russia is letting him down, and there are no obligations from the Russian side to continue these negotiations. We, as I mentioned, support this initiative, and I think this war must end. At this stage, all European allies, together with the United States, support this idea.
Recall
US President Donald Trump stated that he thought he had a good relationship with Russian dictator Vladimir Putin, but Putin let him down.