War in Ukraine: ready for negotiations, 150 prisoners exchanged, “mine warfare”… an update on the situation

Every day, Midi Libre takes stock of the situation in Ukraine. This Wednesday, February 5, 2025, discover the latest news about this conflict

Talk to Putin

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has said kyiv is ready to begin negotiations to end its nearly three-year war with Russia, but stressed that the United States and Europe must also be part of the discussions. Zelensky, who has long called for the withdrawal of Russian troops from occupied Ukrainian territory as a precondition for talks, has spoken in recent weeks of the need to engage in talks aimed at achieving a “just” peace.

Russia, whose forces have been advancing in eastern Ukraine for months, said this week that it was too early to consider four-way talks. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has once again described Volodymyr Zelensky as an “illegitimate” leader since he has stayed in power beyond his term. “If people think we need to go through diplomatic channels, and I think we are ready to do that, there must be the United States, Europe, Ukraine and Russia.”, Volodymyr Zelensky told British journalist Piers Morgan in an interview broadcast on the latter’s YouTube channel. He added that if sitting down at the negotiating table opposite Russian President Vladimir Putin, “is the only way to bring peace to the citizens of Ukraine […], we will definitely opt for this solution, for a meeting with these four participants.” Vladimir Putin has repeatedly rejected his Ukrainian counterpart’s participation in negotiations, saying that the latter has not submitted to elections at the end of his term in May 2024.

Ukraine has said that no elections are legally possible while martial law remains in effect. In the interview, Zelensky rejected the Kremlin’s argument, saying he was elected in 2019 with 73% of the vote. “I have always been open to elections. But during a war, elections require constitutional changes and serious legal adjustment,” he said. Zelensky has said he opposes easing Western sanctions on Russia – for what kyiv and its allies denounce as an invasion – citing the risk that doing so could allow Moscow to launch a new offensive in Ukraine. He also said that 45,100 Ukrainians have been killed since the conflict began on February 24, 2022, while more than 390,000 others have been wounded. He estimated the losses on the Russian side at 350,000 soldiers killed.

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Prisoner exchange

Russia said Wednesday it had exchanged 150 Ukrainian prisoners of war with Ukraine for an equal number of Russians, the issue remaining one of the few on which the two warring countries have managed to cooperate. The Russian Defense Ministry said 150 of its servicemen held by Ukraine had been exchanged for 150 prisoners of war from the other side.

It said the Russians were currently in Belarus, a close Russian ally and neighbor of both nations, receiving “psychological and medical assistance”. The exchange was the result of a “negotiation process,” the ministry added. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky wrote on Telegram that “today is a beautiful day for all of us”. “We are bringing back 150 of our defenders from Russian captivity,” he said, without mentioning any servicemen who were returned to Moscow in exchange.

These are “soldiers, sergeants, officers”, some of whom have been held in Russia for “more than two years”, Zelensky said. Both Russia and Ukraine noted on Wednesday the involvement of the United Arab Emirates, which has been very active in discussions on prisoner exchanges between the two countries.

They are also mediating the return of Ukrainian children to their country from Russia. Russia and Ukraine have exchanged hundreds of prisoners since the start of the Russian invasion in February 2022 and also regularly exchange the remains of soldiers killed in the fighting.

Also read: VIDEO. War in Ukraine: they are hidden and waiting for their targets, kyiv places drones in ambush to better strike the Russian enemy

A “mine war”

The soldiers, with the use of drones, are now able to lay mines on Russian roads behind enemy lines. Mines that explode as enemy soldiers pass through Ukraine and which have caused heavy losses. It is the Ukrainian unit of the “Magyar Birds” that is at the origin of this “mine war”, according to our colleagues from Géo.

What is considered as a turning point is the use of drones in this tactic. Indeed, thanks to their precision, the “Magyar Birds” have managed to place mines in targeted ways on the most used roads. This type of drone, called a multirotor “heavy bomber”, is then capable of dropping at least six of these mines from a distance of 20 km.

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No fewer than 2,000 mines have been deployed by the Ukrainians.