MOSCOW (AFP): Russian President Vladimir Putin has spoken to eastern Ukraine’s rebel leaders to discuss a prisoner swap, his first publicly acknowledged direct contact with the two pro-Russian separatist republics.
The Kremlin said late Wednesday that Putin spoke by telephone with Alexander Zakharchenko, leader of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic, and Igor Plotnitsky, head of the Lugansk People’s Republic.
The entities, located in Ukraine’s Donetsk and Lugansk regions, declared independence from Kiev following Moscow’s annexation of Crimea in 2014, launching a war which has lasted to this day, killing more than 10,000 people.
His apparent willingness and ability to intervene will add fuel …read more
Source: The Frontier Post
