Months of secret international negotiations lay behind the release of captured British and Ukrainian fighters, during which a key demand by Moscow was the release by Kyiv of Vladimir Putin’s friend Viktor Medvedchuk.
Saudi officials claimed that the kingdom’s crown prince personally played a part in brokering the prisoner exchange. “It was in continuation of [his] commitment to the humanitarian initiatives towards the Russian-Ukrainian crisis,” said the foreign ministry in Jeddah. Ukrainian and Western diplomatic officials confirm Mohammed bin Salman did indeed intercede with President Putin on the issue in a number of telephone calls.
