Putin, Zelenskiy Exchange New Year Wishes, Discuss Another Prisoner Swap

The two leaders also exchanged holiday greetings, according to a statement by Zelenskiy’s press service that was later confirmed by the Kremlin.

It is the first time that Putin has wished his Ukrainian counterpart a happy New Year in six years and testifies to the slowly improving relations.

The Kremlin on December 30 published a list of countries whose leaders Putin had sent holiday wishes to. That list did not include Ukraine.

New Year’s is one of the most important holidays in former Soviet countries and the lack of a greeting can be seen as a snub.

Putin expressed a positive opinion about Zelenskiy during a meeting with business leaders last week, saying the Ukrainian leader was trying to build a dialogue with Russia, Forbes reported, citing one of the participants.

The Kremlin’s relationship with Ukraine has been hostile ever since protests in Kyiv led to the overthrow of the country’s pro-Russian leader, Viktor Yanukovych, in February 2014.

Russia annexed Ukraine’s Crimean Peninsula shortly thereafter and backed separatists forces in eastern Ukraine, sparking a war in the Donbas that has resulted in more than 13,000 deaths. That war continues to this day.

Zelenskiy, a political novice who won a landslide victory in April on a promise to end the war, has reinvigorated the moribund peace process with Russia.

Zelenskiy reached an agreement with Putin on their first prisoner exchange in September, less than four months after taking power, with each side swapping 35 individuals later that month.

Following the December 9 peace talks in Paris with the heads of Russia, Ukraine, Germany, and France — the first of its kind in three years — Zelenskiy and Putin carried out another prisoner swap on December 29.

However, those exchanges did not include Ukrainians held in Crimea. During their December 31 call, the two leaders agreed “to immediately proceed” to approve lists for the release of Ukrainians, including Crimeans, held in Crimea and Russia, and Russians held in Ukraine, Zelenskiy’s press service said in a statement.

The two also expressed hope to complete the cease-fire agreement reached in Paris “in the near future,” the statement said.