May 25—As the first tangible result of the new direct negotiations process that began last week in Istanbul between Russia and Ukraine, the first phase of what will be a 1,000-person prisoner swap began yesterday. Reports say that it is proceeding according to plans, with each side releasing 390 prisoners.
Sources report that the government of NATO's Ukrainian dictator Volodymyr Zelenskyy is not playing up the swap because the sheer joy on the part of Ukrainians seeing their loved ones returned casts doubt of the Zelenskyy narrative about how Ukraine is ready to fight on to a non-achievable "victory." Interviews with the returning Ukrainians done by foreign reporters say they were not treated badly by the Russians, and they expressed hope that "this damn war will end soon."
As the exchanges were taking place, the Russians decried Ukraine's escalation of the fighting, using drones to attack inside the Russian Federation. Russia’s Foreign Ministry released a strong statement May 24 on the escalation: “[F]rom May 20 to 8 a.m. on May 23, the number of aerial attacks amounted to multiples of what it used to be, with 788 strikes,” the statement read, “targeting Russian territory outside the area of the special military operation.” While Russia knocked out most of them, they reported that 12 drones hit their targets, causing a number of casualties.
The statement goes on: “Notably, even after the Ukrainian forces had been ousted from the Kursk Region, they keep trying to infiltrate our territory and launch drone, long-range artillery, and missile attacks. Under these circumstances, the President was compelled to make a decision on establishing a security buffer zone on adjacent territory in order to minimize the ability of the Ukrainian forces to infiltrate and to attack our border regions using various munitions.” President Putin had also announced that Russia would begin establishing buffer zones inside Ukraine on the borders of the Kursk, Bryansk, and Belgorod regions. “Our armed forces are actively solving this task now,” he said May 23.
Russia: Europeans Sabotage U.S. Peace Efforts
The Foreign Ministry statement also notes that the recent upsurge in drone attacks inside Russia is part of an “attempt to thwart direct Russia-Ukraine talks facilitated by the U.S. Administration [and]...appear intended to derail the implementation of initial agreements reached in Istanbul on May 16, including a massive prisoner exchange.”
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov reiterated this same warning during remarks to media May 24 but laying the blame squarely at the feet of Kiev’s European backers: "We believe these attacks are a direct result of the support provided to Ukrainian Nazis, primarily by a number of European countries, led by the United Kingdom, France, Germany, and the EU leadership. We are convinced that they bear a portion of responsibility for these crimes. We will push to bring an end to this policy.
“We are witnessing a clear attempt to derail peace talks and disrupt the process that began in Istanbul following an agreement between President Vladimir Putin and President Donald Trump…. We will continue working on that despite provocations,” the Foreign Minister stated.
White House Frustrated with NATO
Sources close to the White House say that the President is furious with NATO and the Europeans for trying to get their puppet Zelenskyy to standup to Putin, but more importantly to him, and try keep negotiations focussed on his "unconditional ceasefire." Trump had proposed that, until he spoke with Putin, who explained why a ceasefire could not be unconditional, since at least for, the Europeans and Zelenskyy only want to use it to resupply the Ukrainians failing positions on the Eastern front, while restocking their dwindling supplies of ammunition.
"There is not going to be an unconditional ceasefire," said a source. "But Trump and Witkoff may have come up with something that can throw a monkey wrench into the NAO plans. He could announce that he is unilaterally suspending all U.S. arms shipments and providing all targeting assistance to Ukraine, and that this will continue to be the case even during a ceasefire, and until an agreement is reached. Putin would accept this as a condition for a ceasefire and stop the fighting, with front lines kept in place. And it would prod that little punk Zelenskyy to really negotiate. Will Trump have the balls to do this—well, I don't know.
However, the source noted that Trump is unlikely to take such a step while his legislative priorities remain unresolved in Congress, particularly given strong Senate calls for additional sanctions against Russia. The source added that Trump is learning NATO will not support his approach and that European nations are unwilling to align with his position. The situation remains fluid, and further developments are expected.