Expert Prof. Dr. Sambur: Prisoners Are Used as a Means of Psychological and Diplomatic Pressure

Russia's Human Rights Commissioner Yana Lantratova published a list of 273 Ukrainian soldiers who Ukraine refused to take back. Foreign Policy Expert Prof. Dr. Bilal Sambur emphasized that the prisoner exchange issue has been a crucial topic from the beginning and stated that Ukraine wants to use prisoners as a means of psychological and diplomatic pressure.

At this point, the prisoner issue is being used as a means of psychological and diplomatic pressure at the negotiating table. The main reason for the difficulty in exchanging prisoners is this situation. The Ukrainian side wants to keep this issue as a diplomatic leverage in their hands. As a result, the prisoner exchange discussions reveal an important fact to us: By turning prisoners into a means of propaganda, psychological warfare, and diplomatic pressure, they are actually showing their reluctance to end the war. Therefore, the prisoner issue will likely remain one of the strongest cards on the table throughout the war.

The prisoner exchange issue has been one of the most critical topics since the start of Russia's special operation in Ukraine. Ukraine's recent insistence on not accepting the lists of names for the exchange has brought the issue back to the agenda.