Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he had visited the eastern front line as Ukraine and Russia ⁠completed a two-day prisoner-of-war swap, exchanging 500 soldiers each.

The swap, which included the exchange of 200 soldiers each on Thursday and another 300 each on Friday, came as US-brokered peace negotiations remained deadlocked, with a planned trilateral meeting this week shelved due to the escalating conflict in the Middle East.

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Two Ukrainian civilians were also returned home.

Video posted by Zelenskyy of the exchange showed dozens of men stepping off white buses, waving and embracing border guards. One soldier, phone to his ear, could be heard telling his mother: “I am at home. That’s it, I am home.”

US special envoy Steve Witkoff credited the swap to “sustained and detailed peace discussions” held in Geneva under the direction of President Donald Trump, thanking Switzerland for hosting the negotiations.

“Discussions remain ongoing,” Witkoff wrote, “with additional progress anticipated in the weeks ahead.”

On Friday, Zelenskyy travelled to positions near Druzhkivka and Kostiantynivka in the eastern Donetsk region, where Russian forces have massed before an anticipated spring offensive, to visit soldiers from the 28th separate mechanised brigade.

He told troops on the front line that their efforts were vital in strengthening Ukraine’s position in future peace talks.

“The stronger we are in the eastern direction,” he told troops, “the stronger we are in the talks process.”

However, talks expected to take place in Abu Dhabi between March 5 and 9 were postponed after US and Israeli strikes on Iran prompted retaliatory attacks across the Gulf.

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“Right now, because of the situation around Iran, there are not yet the necessary signals for a trilateral meeting,” Zelenskyy said.

Trump, in a Politico interview on Thursday, renewed pressure on Kyiv to reach a settlement, claiming Putin was ready to make a deal and warning that Zelenskyy held an increasingly weak hand.

“Now, he’s got even less cards,” Trump said, without offering evidence for his assertion about Moscow’s readiness to end the war.

Zelenskyy pushed back sharply on Russian demands that Ukraine cede the remainder of Donetsk that it controls, a central sticking point in talks.

“Why should we leave our own land that we control?” he said. “He has not succeeded on the battlefield. He has no strength.”

That battlefield picture has, in recent weeks, shifted modestly in Kyiv’s favour.

Ukrainian forces have retaken nine settlements in the Zaporizhia region since late January and, for the first time since summer 2024, recaptured more ground than they lost in a single month.

Analysis group DeepState estimated Russian territorial gains in February at 126 square kilometres (49 square miles), a 20-month low, while the Institute for the Study of War put Ukrainian recoveries at about 257 square kilometres (99 square miles) since January 1.