Overview
- NSDC secretary Rustem Umerov announced that both sides agreed to reactivate the Istanbul-brokered exchange mechanism to secure the release of 1,200 Ukrainians.
- Umerov said procedural and organizational details will be worked out in upcoming technical consultations, with the goal of returning people home before the New Year and Christmas holidays.
- President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Ukraine is counting on the resumption of prisoner exchanges and that intensive meetings and calls are underway.
- Moscow has not issued an immediate public response to Kyiv’s statements about restarting large, coordinated swaps.
- The Istanbul agreements, set in 2022 with Turkish mediation, have enabled thousands of returns but exchanges have been sporadic and vulnerable to battlefield escalation.