Ukraine and Russia exchanged 200 prisoners of war each on Thursday in their latest swap, ​officials on both sides said, despite a ‌deadlock in U.S.-backed negotiations to end the four-year conflict.

Kyiv and Moscow have carried out regular POW exchanges throughout the ​war, committing during recent talks in Geneva to ​a new round of such swaps even ⁠as negotiations remain stuck over the question of ​territory.

“Every time our people come home, it proves ​that Ukraine is working to bring everyone back. No one is forgotten,” President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on X.

“We involve mediators. ​I am grateful to everyone who helps Ukraine. ​I thank the United States for its support in making ‌this ⁠exchange possible.”

Some of the POWs freed on Thursday were captured as far back as Moscow’s siege of Mariupol in early 2022, Zelenskiy added.

Tearful ​relatives greeted loved ​ones – many ⁠of them draped in Ukrainian flags – as they emerged from a ​bus that had arrived at an undisclosed ​location ⁠to chants of “Welcome!”

The two sides are expected to trade a further 300 POWs each in a ⁠second ​day of exchanges on Friday, ​officials said.

SOURCE: REUTERS AND AGENCIES