Ukraine and Russia have agreed a prisoner swap expected to involve a total of 277 people taken captive in the conflict in eastern Ukraine, a senior Ukrainian official said on Thursday. Roman Bezsmertny said Kiev expected to exchange 208 people serving jail sentences in Ukraine for 69 Ukrainians. "The most important — an agreement was reached on the start of exchange procedure of prisoners of war, illegally held, convicted persons in the ratio of 208 to 69," he said.

Bezsmertny represents Ukraine in the working group on political issues of the Trilateral Contact Group, a body that aims to facilitate a diplomatic resolution to the conflict. The accord was concluded in the Belarus capital Minsk following talks in the trilateral group, whose other members are Russia and the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe, a European security body tasked with monitoring a 2015 ceasefire agreement. Bezsmertny gave no exact date for the exchange but said the preparatory procedures could take up to several months.