
Putin and Trump agree to prisoner exchange, Russia says
President Donald Trump and his Russian counterpart, Vladmir Putin, have agreed to an exchange of prisoners, Russia's foreign minister said Tuesday.
'President Trump is a man who wants results,' Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said in Turkey, claiming that the American president's efforts were being 'sabotaged' by some European countries as he refered to ongoing efforts to reach a ceasefire in Ukraine.
Lavrov did not provide further details on the exchange.
The State Department did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Russia has maintained that it wants to end the war in Ukraine, which began when Putin launched an invasion in 2022, but has not backed off of maximalist demands that Ukraine disarm and handover swathes of territory.
If the deal is confirmed by the State Department and comes to fruition, it will be the first exchange since last August, when four U.S. residents wrongly imprisoned in Russia — including journalist Evan Gershkovich and Marine veteran Paul Whelan — were released as part of a major multinational prisoner exchange the likes of which had not been seen since the Cold War.
The massive deal, cut among seven nations, involved 24 people, including five Germans and seven Russian citizens held in Russia, and eight Russians
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


Scottish Sun
38 minutes ago
- Scottish Sun
Russia hands its own dead soldiers to Ukraine in sick move during body swap as Vlad's best pal frees prisoners for Trump
Some of the dead bodies even carried Russian passports SICK VLAD Russia hands its own dead soldiers to Ukraine in sick move during body swap as Vlad's best pal frees prisoners for Trump Click to share on X/Twitter (Opens in new window) Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) RUSSIA handed over 20 bodies it claimed were Ukrainian defenders - but they were actually its own dead troops, says Zelensky. It comes as Russian ally Belarus freed its top jailed opposition leader and other political prisoners - after Trump's envoy met the ex-Soviet state's iron-fisted leader. Sign up for Scottish Sun newsletter Sign up 7 20 'Ukrainian' bodies recently handed over by Russia have in fact been Russian, says Zelensky Credit: EPA 7 Some of the bodies even have Russian passports on them Credit: x/Volodymyr Zelenskyy 7 Russian prisoners of war on a bus in Belarus Credit: Getty Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky revealed Russia's grim body-swap blunder on Saturday, as reported by Ukrainska Pravda. He said: "They (Russia) told us these were only Ukrainians and only service members. "But that's a lie, now documented. In some cases, these bodies even have Russian passports on them. "They can't even check who they're sending. We certainly want all of our warriors and the bodies of our heroes back. "But we definitely do not want Russians being handed over simply for the sake of quantity." Russia and Ukraine exchanged at least 1,200 prisoners of war over a week ago after the second round of direct talks in Istanbul. Meanwhile, Sergei Tikhanovsky, a prominent Belarusian opposition leader, was freed from jail along with 13 other political prisoners on Saturday. His release came after US special envoy Keith Kellogg met with Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko in the country's capital, Minsk. Svetlana Tikhanovskaya - Tikhanovsky's wife and also a Belarusian opposition politician - publicly thanked Donald Trump, Kellogg and "all European allies" for securing her husband's release. Lukashenko's press secretary said the prisoners were freed at Trump's request. Vladimir Putin rages 'all of Ukraine is ours' as he threatens to seize key city while Kyiv slams tyrant as 'deranged' Tikhanovskaya wrote on X: "My husband … is free! It's hard to describe the joy in my heart." She added: "We're not done. 1150 political prisoners remain behind bars. All must be released." Five Belarusian nationals, along with Japanese, Polish and Swedish citizens, were also released, according to Tikhanovskaya's office. The Lithuanian foreign minister said on X that the 14 political prisoners were receiving care in Lithuania. Tikhanovsky was jailed for 18 years in 2021. 7 The moment Russian strikes shatter residential buildings in Kharkiv, injuring 13 including two children on June 5 Credit: East2West 7 Ukrainian soldiers fire a Grad multiple rocket launcher towards Russian positions in Donetsk on June 3 Credit: AP 7 Russian soldiers fire drones in Lyman on April 24 Credit: Getty His wife ran in his place and claimed victory - but fled into exile with their kids the day after. Many Belarusians believe the 2020 election was rigged by Lukashenko's regime to keep him in power - a position he's held since 1994. Hundreds of thousands of Belarusians have fled their homeland since the brutal crackdown on opposition protests in 2020. Belarus has faced heavy Western sanctions for its brutal crackdown and backing Russia's war - including allowing Russian troops to use its land and hosting tactical nukes. Tens of thousands have been arrested in Belarus for political reasons over the past five years, says rights group Viasna. It comes as Vladimir Putin and Alexander Lukashenko signed a security agreement in December, finalising the deployment of Russian tactical nuclear arms in Belarus. The signing followed an amendment in Russia's nuclear doctrine, which for the first time placed Belarus under the Russian nuclear umbrella. It effectively gives Lukashenko control over the potential use of Russian tactical nuclear weapons deployed to Belarus in response to aggression. Putin said in a televised remark: "I'm sure that the treaty will ensure the security of Russia and Belarus." After the two leaders signed the pact, Lukashenko asked Putin to deploy the Oreshnik intermediate-range ballistic missile (IRBM) that Russia used for the first time last month against Ukraine.


Scottish Sun
38 minutes ago
- Scottish Sun
Scots traitor who lost eye fighting for Putin now pals with paedo US turncoat
The twisted pair enjoyed a meeting in their adopted homeland THE TRAITOR & THE PAEDO Scots traitor who lost eye fighting for Putin now pals with paedo US turncoat Click to share on X/Twitter (Opens in new window) Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) A SCOTS traitor who lost an eye fighting for Russia is now pals with a US fugitive wanted on paedo photos charges, we can reveal. Ross McElvenny, 26 — pictured for the first time with a patch — shook hands with disgraced American Air Force defector Wilmer Puello-Mota, 28. Sign up for Scottish Sun newsletter Sign up 2 Disgraced American Air Force defector Wilmer Puello-Mota Credit: AP 2 Ross McElvenny lost an eye fighting for Vladimir Putin in Ukraine The twisted pair, who signed up for Vladimir Putin's army after its bloody invasion of Ukraine, enjoyed a meeting in their adopted homeland. Next to the sickening social media snap, McElvenny gushed: 'I finally managed to meet Will Puello.' The half-blinded mercenary, from Newton Mearns, near Glasgow, is now a Russian citizen. And he has been travelling the country since leaving hospital after getting surgery on his left eye. Selfies he posted show him in the capital Moscow and also visiting Mamayev Kurgan, a huge memorial commemorating the savage Second World War Battle of Stalingrad, now called Volgograd. McElvenny, who also sustained serious shrapnel injuries after being shelled by Ukrainian forces, had previously shrugged off his plight, saying: 'St happens in conflict.' And the Kremlin squaddie, whose call sign is 'Whisky', insisted he had 'zero regrets'. The Rangers fan added: 'I came here to do what I could to support Russia. I love this country.' We told how McElvenny was hurt in a blast before being fitted with a 'fake eyeball inside what remained of my left eye'. He first hit the headlines last November after it emerged he had been injured while serving in the Donetsk region of Ukraine. Scottish brewer fighting as mercenary for Putin in Russia Previously, he had studied IT at a college in Glasgow after attending Falkland House, a residential school for boys in Fife. We revealed he once had a work experience stint as a schoolboy with the Scottish Government at offices in Atlantic Quay, Glasgow. It was in a placement tailored for pupils with additional support needs. McElvenny told The Scottish Sun on Sunday: 'It was a s**y programme by a school I should have never been in the first place — so they could get some publicity.' He travelled to Russia on a tourist visa last August, then volunteered for Putin's 1099th Motorised Rifle Regiment. The renegade Scot is being probed by cops here and faces prosecution if he returns. We told in December how McElvenny had boasted of becoming 'a citizen of the Russian Federation' after a short ceremony. He called it: 'One of the happiest moments of my life.' His new chum Puello-Mota was in the US Air Force and Massachusetts International Guard before fleeing the sex rap and landing in Russia. The ex-city councillor in Holyoke, Massachusetts, was arrested in nearby Rhode Island in 2020 after cops found explicit images of an underage girl on his phone. He reportedly told officers he thought she was 22, and only later learned she was 17. Puello-Mota was later charged with forgery, counterfeiting and obstructing justice after claiming the seedy snaps were fake. He vanished in January last year, just two days before he was scheduled to answer the charges in a Rhode Island court. US authorities said he boarded a Turkish Airlines flight to Istanbul before disappearing. It is understood the fugitive, who used the call-sign 'Boston', has been fighting as a volunteer mercenary alongside Russian troops in the war with Ukraine. In April last year, footage from propaganda channels showed him signing a military contract. They have spun Puello-Mota's defection as a coup for the Moscow regime.


BBC News
an hour ago
- BBC News
Russian government nervous as country faces economic challenges
At the St Petersburg International Economic Forum, a Russian MP came up to me."Are you going to bomb Iran?" he asked."I'm not planning to bomb anyone!" I replied."I mean you, the British…""Don't you mean Donald Trump?""He's told what to do by Britain," the man smiled. "And by the deep state."It was a brief, bizarre conversation. But it showed that in St Petersburg this week there was more on people's minds than just the economy. Take President Vladimir Friday, the Kremlin leader delivered the keynote speech at the forum's plenary session. It focused on the it's what the Kremlin leader said in the panel discussion afterwards that made headlines."We have an old rule," Putin declared. "Where the foot of a Russian soldier steps, that's ours."Imagine you're the leader of a country that's hosting an economic forum, seeking foreign investment and cooperation. Boasting about your army seizing foreign lands wouldn't appear to be the most effective way to achieve that's the point. Since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, the state of the economy has been secondary to the goal of winning the war against Ukraine. That is the Kremlin's overarching priority. True, Russia's economy has been growing, but largely due to massive state spending on the defence sector and military-industrial complex. Russia fears another loss in Middle East from Iran's conflict with IsraelHow the West is helping Russia to fund its war on Ukraine And even this war-related growth is now petering didn't sound overly concerned."As far as the 'murder' of the Russian economy is concerned, as a famous writer once said - 'rumours of my death are greatly exaggerated,'" the Russian president declared. But the Russian government is clearly the forum, Russia's Minister for Economic Development, Maxim Reshetnikov, warned that the country's economy was teetering "on the brink of recession". "We grew for two years at a fairly high pace because unused resources were activated," said Russian Central Bank Governor Elvira Nabiullina. "We need to understand that many of those resources have truly been exhausted."The St Petersburg International Economic Forum was conceived as a shiny showcase for the Russian economy. A lot of that shine has faded due to the thousands of international sanctions imposed on Russia over the war in Ukraine. Many Western companies pulled out of Russia. Might they return?After all, US President Donald Trump has made it clear he wants better relations with Moscow."Today we had breakfast with the American Chamber of Commerce and lots of investors came from the US. We get a sense that lots of American companies want to come back," Kirill Dmitriev, President Putin's envoy on foreign investment, told me. We spoke on the sidelines of the St Petersburg forum."I think the American administration understands that dialogue and joint cooperation is better than sanctions that do not work and hurt your businesses."Western businesses, though, are unlikely to return in large numbers while Russia is waging war on Ukraine."I think it's clear you have to have some sort of an end to the conflict before American companies are going to seriously consider going back," said Robert Agee, president of the American Chamber of Commerce in Russia."Have you asked the Trump administration to remove some sanctions from Russia?" I asked him."We've been to Washington," he replied. "We have made an analysis of the impact of American sanctions on American businesses. We passed that on to the administration.""Do you accept that the idea of Western businesses returning is controversial in light of the war in Ukraine?" I asked. "Western businesses have made decisions based on what happened three or four years ago," replied Mr Agee. "And it's up to them to decide whether it's the right time to return."After more than three years of war and mass sanctions, Russia faces tough economic challenges: high inflation, high interest rates, reports of stagnation, recession. The problems in the economy are now openly discussed and unclear how soon they will be resolved.