Moscow, June 10 (IANS) Russia is ready to hand over the bodies of fallen Ukrainian soldiers, and has been waiting for the Ukrainian side for several days at the border, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Tuesday.
Peskov said he hoped that the bodies of fallen Russian soldiers would also be transferred in the near future.
“There is no final understanding, contact is being made, numbers are being compared,” he said, noting that as soon as there is an understanding, Moscow hopes the exchange of dead bodies will take place.
Following talks in Istanbul on June 2, Russia agreed to transfer the bodies of 6,000 dead Ukrainian soldiers. It has delivered the first batch of 1,212 bodies of Ukrainian soldiers to the border exchange point, Russian negotiating group representative Alexander Zorin said Sunday, Xinhua news agency reported.
On Monday, Russia and Ukraine had carried out the first phase of a prisoner exchange following agreements reached in Istanbul last week, Ukraine’s Coordinating Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War said.
The Russian Defence Ministry confirmed in a statement that “the first group of Russian servicemen under the age of 25 was returned from the territory controlled by Kiev”.
A similar number of prisoners of war from the Ukrainian army were also transferred, it added.
During their last round of talks in Istanbul on June 2, Russia and Ukraine agreed on an “all-for-all” exchange involving seriously ill and wounded prisoners, as well as soldiers under the age of 25, according to Russian Presidential aide Vladimir Medinsky.
Efforts remain ongoing to repatriate the bodies of Ukrainian servicemen, the Ukrainian agency said.
On Sunday, Russia had delivered the first batch of 1,212 bodies of Ukrainian soldiers to the border exchange point pursuant to the Istanbul accords, said Lt General Zorin.
Zorin, also a representative of the Russian negotiating group, had said that Ukraine has not made contact, therefore, the transfer of the bodies and the exchange of prisoners have not taken place yet.
Some foreign media representatives waiting at the agreed-upon place of exchange have checked some of the refrigerated trucks transporting the bodies.
Zorin said that trains with more bodies of Ukrainian servicemen will start moving towards the border, adding that Russia is awaiting Kyiv’s official confirmation for transferring Ukrainian soldiers’ bodies next week.
This occurred amid an ongoing spat over a prisoner swap between the two sides. Russia on Saturday accused Ukraine of postponing a scheduled prisoner exchange over the weekend, while Ukraine denied the accusation and urged Russia to stop playing “dirty games.”
Ukraine’s Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War claimed Saturday that although both Ukraine and Russia have reached a consensus on the exchange of the remains of fallen soldiers, they have not agreed on the date of the exchange.
The trade of allegations comes amid escalating military actions on both sides, raising concerns over the prospects for renewed peace talks, analysts have noted.
–IANS
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