China welcomes new Ukraine-Russia agreement on prisoner exchange

China has welcomed the agreement between Kyiv and Moscow on another prisoner exchange and expressed hope for a political resolution to the conflict.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun said this at a regular press briefing, Ukrinform reports.

"We have taken note that Ukraine and Russia held another round of direct talks and reached new agreements on important humanitarian issues such as prisoner exchanges. China welcomes this," Guo said, commenting on the outcome of yesterday's meeting between Ukrainian and Russian delegations in Istanbul.

He added that China’s position on the "Ukrainian crisis" (China's term for Russia's aggression against Ukraine) remains unchanged and focuses on promoting peace talks to resolve the conflict.

"We hope all parties will strive for a political settlement," the diplomat said.

Earlier reports said that the atmosphere at the July 23 meeting in Istanbul was notably more constructive compared to the two prior rounds.

Ukraine and Russia agreed on the possibility of regular exchanges of severely ill prisoners of war.

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