Russian President Vladimir Putin has told leaders of Moscow-backed separatists in Ukraine’s eastern regions of Luhansk and Donetsk that he favors a plan for a prisoner swap with Kyiv, in a rare acknowledgement of direct contact with the separatist forces.
Russia's War Against Ukraine
RFE/RL: Putin speaks directly to separatist leaders, presses prisoner swap
Ukrainian prisoners in a bus as separatists stand guard before a prisoner exchange with Ukraine on Feb. 21, 2015 in the eastern Ukrainian city of Luhansk.
