The United Arab Emirates said it succeeded in mediating an exchange of 180 prisoners of war between Russia and Ukraine, the state news agency WAM said on Tuesday.
A still image from a video, released by the Russian Defence Ministry, shows what it said to be captured Russian service personnel react in a bus following the latest exchange of prisoners of war at an unknown location in the course of Russia-Ukraine conflict, in this image taken from handout footage released June 25, 2024. Russian Defence Ministry/Handout via Reuters
The United Arab Emirates said it succeeded in mediating an exchange of 180 prisoners of war between Russia and Ukraine, the state news agency WAM said on Tuesday.
The Emirati foreign ministry said the mediation succeded because the UAE leveraged "its distinct ties and partnership with both sides, including as a reliable mediator among both parties," WAM said.
Earlier on Tuesday, the Russian Defence Ministry said that Moscow and Kyiv have each returned 90 prisoners of war in a swap.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy confirmed the return of 90 prisoners with the UAE acting as an intermediary.
Since the start of Russia's war in Ukraine, the UAE has maintained neutral rhetoric on the conflict and continued mediating between the two sides to exchange prisoners.
Reporting by Jaidaa Taha and Muhammad Al Gebaly
A senior Emirati official has claimed a resounding victory for the UAE in the wake of the US-Iran ceasefire announcement, declaring that his country had triumphed against Iranian aggression it never wanted to face in the first place.
UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan received Sheikh Jarrah Jaber Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah, Kuwait's Minister of Foreign Affairs, in Abu Dhabi for high-level talks that placed the ongoing Iranian threat at the centre of Gulf diplomatic consultations.
The United States and Iran received the framework of a plan to end hostilities, but Iran rejected immediately reopening the Strait of Hormuz, after President Donald Trump threatened to rain "hell" on Tehran if it did not make a deal the end of Tuesday.
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