Abdullah Abu Deif (Cairo)
Widespread positive reactions to the success of the prisoner exchange deal, which is the largest between Russia and Ukraine since the beginning of the crisis, mediated by the UAE, during which Russia recovered about 248 soldiers, while Ukraine, according to an official announcement, recovered more than 200 soldiers and civilians who had been captured over the past months from the army. Russian.
United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres praised the UAE's efforts to complete a prisoner exchange between Russia and Ukraine, which is the “largest” of its kind since the start of the Russian military operation in Ukraine.
The spokesman for the United Nations Secretary-General, Stephane Dujarric, expressed in a statement yesterday the international organization’s hope that this important step will be followed by additional exchanges of prisoners of war and other efforts to calm the escalation between the two sides, praising the efforts of the two parties as well as the efforts of the UAE as a third party, which contributed to achieving This is a positive development. Kuwait, Bahrain, and the Arab Parliament also welcomed the success of the UAE mediation.
In turn, both Ukraine and Russia considered the prisoner exchange deal a success for the UAE’s diplomacy, which led several exceptional negotiating rounds, in addition to affirming that it is a friendly country for everyone and neutral in regional and international conflicts, which made it a mediator always accepted by all parties.
Ukrainian Human Rights Commissioner Dmytro Lobinets confirmed that exactly 230 Ukrainian soldiers were recovered during the “49th exchange” between Kiev and Moscow since the start of the attack and crisis in February 2022, noting that the number of those returning since the battles reached about 2,828 Ukrainians.
The Ukrainian coordination center responsible for prisoners of war said it was the exchange “the largest in terms of the number of (Ukrainian) defenders repatriated.”
In special statements to Al-Ittihad, the head of the International Trade Development Agency in the Russian capital, Moscow, Timur Dowidar, said that the Russian administration greatly appreciates the Emirati effort to achieve global peace, in addition to the strong bilateral relations between the Emirates and Russia.
The political analyst added that the UAE has an effective and real global role in achieving development and peace, and thus its success in the prisoner deal frames its regional and global role as a country working for peace and achieving the highest interest in maintaining regional and international security, pointing out that it is an important and humanitarian role for the UAE, which places world peace as a foundation. to the principles of the state. The difficulty of the new prisoner exchange deal lies in the fact that it comes amidst a widespread military escalation between Ukraine and Russia at the beginning of the new year 2024, which made the UAE mediation deal exceptional in light of this military escalation between the two parties.
For his part, Russian political analyst Andrei Ontikov said that the UAE is one of the most important countries in the world working to establish peace, as it contributed, as a neutral country, in the current conflict between Russia and Ukraine to mediate several deals related to the exchange of prisoners, while the last deal is the largest in terms of the number of prisoners exchanged. Between the two parties, which is to the credit of the UAE.
The Russian political analyst added in a statement to Al-Ittihad that the UAE confirms, through the massive prisoner deal between Russia and Ukraine, its role as a neutral state in regional and international conflicts, and that its main work is to establish peace as one of the principles of the state, which it works to achieve through its extensive international relations in addition to Being a regional representative in the Security Council during the last two years.
Andrei pointed out that the UAE did not stop at this deal, as it is working on new rounds of mediation between the Russian and Ukrainian governments to work on more family reunification during the coming period, stressing that it is a pivotal role that comes from a country trusted by all parties, and leaders who seek neutrality in all regional problems. Therefore, they play the role of mediator accepted by everyone.
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