Ukraine’s Zelenskyy confirms major prisoner swap with Russia – as it happened | Europe
Ukraine’s Zelenskyy confirms major prisoner swap with Russia
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy has just confirmed that the first stage of a major prison swap with Russia has taken place in Turkey, with 390 people released today.
The swap will continue over the weekend.
Here is what he said:
We are bringing our people home. The first stage of the “1000-for-1000” exchange agreement has been carried out. This agreement was reached during the meeting in Türkiye, and it is crucial to implement it in full.
Today – 390 people. On Saturday and Sunday, we expect the exchange to continue.
Thank you to everyone who is helping and working 24/7 to bring Ukrainian men and women back home. It is very important to return everyone who remains in captivity. We are verifying every surname, every detail about each person. We will continue our diplomatic efforts to make such steps possible.
Key events
Closing summary
Jakub Krupa
… and on that note, it’s a wrap from me, Jakub Krupa, for today.
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Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy has confirmed that the first stage of a major prison swap with Russia has taken place in Turkey, with 390 people released today, and more activity expected over the weekend (16:09).
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Earlier today, German chancellor Friedrich Merz urged China to help Western countries bring about a ceasefire between Ukraine and Russia (13:33), while Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov downplayed suggestions that peace talks could be hosted by the Vatican (11:28).
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US president Donald Trump said he would introduce 50% tariffs on the European Union, lamenting the bloc was “very difficult to deal with” as bilateral talks on trade were “going nowhere” (13:52).
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The two candidates in the Polish presidential election run-off on 1 June will face each other in a televised debate tonight, but last hours before the event were dominated by discussions about one of the candidate’s past involvement in football hooliganism (14:46).
And that’s all from me, Jakub Krupa, for today.
If you have any tips, comments or suggestions, email me at jakub.krupa@theguardian.com.
I am also on Bluesky at @jakubkrupa.bsky.social and on X at @jakubkrupa.
Ukraine’s Zelenskyy confirms major prisoner swap with Russia
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy has just confirmed that the first stage of a major prison swap with Russia has taken place in Turkey, with 390 people released today.
The swap will continue over the weekend.
Here is what he said:
We are bringing our people home. The first stage of the “1000-for-1000” exchange agreement has been carried out. This agreement was reached during the meeting in Türkiye, and it is crucial to implement it in full.
Today – 390 people. On Saturday and Sunday, we expect the exchange to continue.
Thank you to everyone who is helping and working 24/7 to bring Ukrainian men and women back home. It is very important to return everyone who remains in captivity. We are verifying every surname, every detail about each person. We will continue our diplomatic efforts to make such steps possible.
The EU’s reaction to Trump’s threat of 50% tariffs imposed on the bloc is somewhat muted so far.
Approached by Reuters, the European Commission declined to comment, while German foreign minister Johann Wadephul said the threat helped nobody, and that Berlin would continue to support the EU to negotiate with Washington.
For all live reactions, you can follow our business live blog here:
Paris court to reach verdict in Kim Kardashian jewellery theft trial
Angelique Chrisafis
Reminder that we are also waiting for a verdict in the Kim Kardashian robbery case, so here’s the latest from our Paris correspondent Angelique Chrisafis.
A Paris court will reach a verdict on Friday in the trial of 10 people alleged to have been involved in the theft of jewellery worth millions of euros from the American reality TV star Kim Kardashian when she attended Paris fashion week in 2016.
Three pensioners and a man in his 30s are accused of breaking into a luxury residence in Paris, where they tied up Kardashian and held her hostage at gunpoint in her bedroom in the early hours of 3 October 2016.
The armed, masked men, who were dressed in police jackets, escaped with jewellery worth up to an estimated €10m. The jewels, which were never found, included a 18.88-carat diamond engagement ring given to Kardashian by her then husband, the rapper Kanye West, estimated to be worth £3m.
The leaders of the gang, aged in their 60s and 70s, were nicknamed the “grandpa robbers” by French media.
They arrived by bike or on foot at the smart residence in central Paris and held a receptionist at gunpoint before going up to Kardashian’s room, where she had been sleeping. They tied her up and taped her mouth, and left her on the bathroom floor before escaping.
Polish election debate overshadowed by questions over candidate’s football hooliganism
And since we mentioned Poland: the two candidates in the presidential election run-off on 1 June will face each other in a televised debate tonight.
Centrist Warsaw mayor Rafał Trzaskowski and radical-right historian Karol Nawrocki will have a chance to question each other in a high-stakes programme televised by multiple broadcasters.
Trzaskowski narrowly won the first round, and the run-off remains too close to call, with some polls even showing Nawrocki ahead.
The debate comes after it emerged that Nawrocki, a former amateur boxer (here in training on the campaign trail) backed by the populist-right Law and Justice party that governed Poland 2015 to 2023, was actively involved in an organised fight between two groups of football hooligans in 2009.
The fight saw 70 men on each side clash in fields near Gdańsk, according to a report by Wirtualna Polska.
Guess it’s safe to predict he will be asked about it tonight.
The debate starts 8pm local time (7pm BST).
Poland intercepts Russian aircraft performing ‘dangerous manoeuvres’
Elsewhere, Poland said it had intercepted a Russian SU-24 aircraft performing dangerous manoeuvres over the Polish airspace last night.
Defence minister Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz said the order to intercept the aircraft was issued by the joint operational command for NATO allied forces in Europe and the Polish jets located the aircraft, intercepted it and effectively deterred it, Reuters reported.
For more coverage of Trump’s tariffs threats – which also include a warning that Apple must pay a 25% tariff unless it manufactures its iPhones in the US – follow our business live blog here:
US set to impose 50% tariffs on EU, Trump says, as he calls bloc ‘very difficult to deal with’
US president Donald Trump has just called the EU “very difficult to deal with,” lamenting the bloc’s “powerful Trade Barriers, Monetary Manipulations, unfair and unjustified lawsuits against American Companies, and more” (original capitalisation!).
He said this “have led to a Trade Deficit with the U.S. of more than $250,000,000 a year, a number which is totally unacceptable.”
“Our discussions with them are going nowhere!
Therefore, I am recommending a straight 50% Tariff on the European Union, starting on June 1, 2025.
There is no Tariff if the product is built or manufactured in the United States.
Thank you for your attention to this matter!”
Germany urges China to back Western plan for Ukraine peace
Meanwhile, German chancellor Friedrich Merz has urged Chinese president Xi Jinping to back efforts to bring about a ceasefire in Ukraine.
In their first phone call since he took office last month, Merz told Xi about “the common efforts of Europe and the EU to bring about a quick ceasefire in Ukraine“ and that he urged China to “support these efforts”, AFP reported.
According to the official Chinese readout of the call, Xi called for “stable and predictable ties” between the two countries.
Xi also “pointed out that the world today is undergoing accelerated changes unseen in a century, with the convergence of changes and chaos in the international situation,” AFP said.
The two leaders also reportedly spoke about the need for “fair competition” in economic relations between the two countries.
We’re hearing more from Ukraine on that prisoner exchange mentioned by Trump…
A Ukrainian military source confirmed to Reuters that the process is under way but is yet to be completed, putting a question mark over Trump’s claims earlier.
Trump says Russia, Ukraine completed ‘major’ prisoners swap
US president Donald Trump has just revealed that “a major prisoners swap was just completed between Russia and Ukraine.”
“It will go into effect shortly. Congratulations to both sides on this negotiation,” he said.
He also added:
This could lead to something big???
Vatican talks on Ukraine ‘not an elegant solution’ for Orthodox countries, Russia’s Lavrov says
Meanwhile, Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov has just questioned the suggestion that Russia-Ukraine talks could take place in the Vatican.
He argued that it would not be “an elegant solution” for two Orthodox countries to talk in a Catholic location, Reuters just reported.
“It would be a bit inelegant for Orthodox countries to discuss on Catholic ground issues related to eliminating root causes [of the conflict)]” Lavrov said, quoted by AFP.
He also accused Kyiv of “destroying” the Ukrainian Orthodox Church and added: “For the Vatican itself it would not be very comfortable to, in these circumstances, host delegations from Orthodox countries.”
Sweden lowers national threat level
Sweden’s security service said it had lowered the national threat assessment by one notch to “elevated” from “high“, citing a gradual change in the overall situation, Reuters reported.
“The threat of attacks from violent extremism has been reduced for some time,” Sweden’s SAPO security police said in a statement.
SAPO had raised the threat level to “high“, the second highest level, in 2023 after Koran burnings by individuals in Sweden outraged Muslims in several countries and triggered jihadist threats, Reuters reported.
Norwegian man wakes to cargo ship in his garden
Miranda Bryant
A Norwegian man has spoken of the “unreal” moment he woke up to discover that a 135-metre container ship had crashed into his front garden.
The cargo vessel, the NCL Salten, had run aground just before 5am on Thursday after entering the Trondheim fjord on its way to the western town of Orkanger.
An astonished neighbour watched as the ship, which was travelling at about 16 knots (approximately 30km/h), headed straight for the shore into Johan Helberg’s garden, narrowly missing his house.
Helberg, who lives in Byneset, near Trondheim, awoke to his neighbour ringing his doorbell. He looked out of his window to see the ship’s bow.
“I went to the window and was quite astonished to see a big ship,” Helberg told the Guardian. “I had to bend my neck to see the top of it. It was so unreal.”
Verdict due in Kardashian robbery trial in Paris
One big story that we will follow today is the expected verdict in the Kim Kardashian robbery trial in Paris.
Kardashian was in Paris – a city she said she had “always loved” – for fashion week in October 2016 and was staying in a luxury hotel when the robbers attacked after she returned from dinner. Ten people – nine men and a woman aged between 35 and 78 – are on trial in connection with France’s biggest personal robbery in 20 years. Eight of the accused deny any involvement.
The suspects, nicknamed the “grandpa gang” because of their advanced age, fled with jewellery estimated at $10m (£7.5m) in value, including the 18.88-carat diamond engagement ring Kardashian’s then husband, rapper Kanye West, gave her, estimated to be worth $4m.
On Wednesday, prosecutors requested 10-year jail terms for the four men accused of carrying out the robbery, including its alleged mastermind, Aomar Ait Khedache, AFP reported.
The defendants will have a final chance to speak on Friday morning before the court begins deliberations.
A verdict is expected in the evening.
Morning opening: Europe gets tougher on migration
Jakub Krupa
Italy and Denmark lead a group of countries pushing back on the European court of human rights’ interpretation of the Human Rights Convention when it comes to migration.
In a joint letter signed with seven other countries – Austria, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Poland, and the Baltics – they argued that a conversation was needed on how rights were being applied as “what was once right may not be the answer tomorrow.”
They said:
Over the past decades, irregular migration has contributed significantly to the immigration to Europe.
Many have come here via legal pathways. They have learned our languages, believe in democracy, contribute to our societies and have decided to integrate themselves into our culture.
Others have come and chosen not to integrate, isolating themselves in parallel societies and distancing themselves from our fundamental values of equality, democracy and freedom.
In particular, some have not contributed positively to the societies welcoming them and have chosen to commit crimes.
It is beyond our comprehension how some people can come to our countries and get a share in our freedom and our vast range of opportunities, and, indeed, decide to commit crimes.
Although this concerns only a minority of immigrants, it risks undermining the very foundation of our societies.
It harms the trust between our citizens and it harms the trust in our institutions.
In a particularly stark paragraph, the letter said:
We believe that the development in the Court’s interpretation has, in some cases, limited our ability to make political decisions in our own democracies. And thereby affected how we as leaders can protect our democratic societies and our populations against the challenges facing us in the world today.
The leaders said “we believe that we are strongly aligned with the majority of the citizens of Europe in our approach,” as they set out to “restore the right balance.”
The move comes as migration dominates election after election across Europe, with voters increasingly frustrated with what they see as the lack of decisive leadership to resolve the issues. Just think of Germany in February and the rise of the anti-migrant sentiment, or about Poland’s ongoing presidential campaign.
One to watch.
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I will bring you all key updates from across Europe throughout the day.
It’s Friday, 23 May 2025, it’s Jakub Krupa here, and this is Europe Live.
Good morning.
