Russia and Ukraine reached no new prisoner exchange agreement during talks in Turkey, Moscow’s envoy told AFP on Thursday, saying her earlier remarks about a swap were misinterpreted.
Russian Human Rights Commissioner Tatyana Moskalkova held a rare meeting in Ankara on Wednesday with her Ukrainian counterpart, Dmytro Lubinets.
Turkish state media later quoted her as telling reporters that they had agreed to exchange “more than 40 prisoners” from each side.
But Moskalkova told AFP that those comments referred to the number of people the sides had already exchanged in the past.
“Someone misunderstood something,” Moskalkova said on the sidelines of an international conference in the Turkish capital.
“We were talking about the results of our past work. These exchanges already happened.”
Moskalkova added that she and Lubinets had exchanged lists of wounded soldiers in preparation for a possible future swap.
“Such exchanges happen all the time. These agreements are reached by the military, and we work jointly with them.”
