After speaking with Putin heads of LPR and DPR agreed to prisoner exchange with Ukraine
DPR leader Alexander Zakharchenko and LPR leader Igor Plotnitsky expressed support for a prisoner exchange with Ukraine, which was proposed by "Ukrainian Choice" movement leader Viktor Medvedchuk, during a conversation with President Vladimir Putin, as reported by the Kremlin’s Press Service.
In their support for the initiative, the heads of the unrecognized LPR and DPR noted that they would need to work out this issue with Kyiv, the report said.
It became known earlier that Russian President Vladimir Putin spoke over the phone for the first time with the leaders of the two unrecognized republics, which are located in the southeast of Ukraine. He discussed the problem of exchanging prisoners in the conflict zone in the Donbas with them.
On November 15, Russian President Vladimir Putin agreed to personal talks with the heads of the LPR and DPR for the first time, as stated by Viktor Medvedchuk stated this at a meeting with the Head of State, Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev, and Patriarch Kirill at the New Jerusalem Resurrection Monastery in Istra. Medvedchuk said that Kyiv is ready to offer to release 300 people in exchange for 70 Ukrainian citizens currently held by militiamen. The exchange is proposed to take place before the New Year. Putin, in response to Medvedchuk’s proposal, promised to "talk" with the leaders of the LPR and DPR.
The last closed meeting between Medvedchuk and Putin took place in the Crimea in August. The two leaders discussed the issues of Ukrainian politics and Kyiv's implementation of the Minsk agreements.