Ukraine says prisoner exchange with Russia under way
A prisoner exchange between Ukraine and Russia is under way but has not yet been completed, a Ukrainian military source has said.
US President Donald Trump had said on social media earlier that the exchange was "just completed" and would "go into effect shortly."
During talks in Istanbul earlier this month, Russia and Ukraine agreed to exchange 1,000 prisoners each.
The warring countries have held many rounds of swaps since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
In such an exchange this month, the two sides each released 205 captured soldiers.
Separately, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has said that Moscow would not allow Russian-speakers in Ukraine to remain under the rule of what he called a "junta" led by President Volodymyr Zelensky.
Mr Lavrov said it would be a "crime" for Russia to allow this to happen. He added that the simplest way to settle the conflict would be for the international community to demand that Ukraine cancel laws discriminating against Russian-speakers.
Ukraine denies any such discrimination.
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