Ukrainian forces and Russia-backed rebels exchanged 34 prisoners yesterday aimed to create conditions that could lead to the end of the six-year war in eastern Ukraine. Ukrainian President’s office said that Ukraine took back 20 of its citizens in exchange of  Fourteen rebels in the swap with the two separatist entities in the rebel-controlled east. Prisoner exchanges were part of an agreement brokered last year at a summit of the leaders of Ukraine, Russia, Germany and France.

United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres welcomed the prisoner exchange and urged all the parties to take further measures in this spirit. It was the third prisoner exchange since  President Volodymyr Zelenskiy was elected last year on promises of ending the conflict in eastern Ukraine. The conflict has killed more than 14,000 people since 2014 and aggravated tensions between Russia and the West.