Ukraine is sabotaging the exchange of prisoners of war (POWs) with Russia by making a "political performance" out of it, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on Saturday.
"This [prisoner exchange] is a political process for the Kiev regime. Moreover, they consider it as a tool to promote their interests in the media," Zakharova told an online briefing.
Moscow, however, has always stressed the humanitarian nature of this process and never tried to draw any political benefits from it, the spokeswoman added.
"I would like to point out that Moscow has never abandoned this work and never refused dialogue on prisoner exchange. Moreover, on our part, the existing governmental bodies and newly-appointed representatives are working. They have never refused this work. They carry out their tasks set by the country's leadership at the highest level. Our position on this is unchanged and widely known, including in Ukraine," Zakharova said.
The spokeswoman accused Kiev of maintaining a semblance of international efforts aimed at bringing Ukrainian prisoners of war back home in order to put pressure on Russia.
"This is all a political performance needed because public dissent is starting to brew in Ukraine. People are asking where the prisoners of war who were supposed to be exchanged actually are, and the Kiev regime, without responding to the citizen's questions and cushioning the real state of affairs, pretends that there are certain international efforts that, in its opinion, must put some kind of pressure on Russia," she said.
The spokeswoman added that Moscow was not aware of any third countries offering to "take patronage" over Ukrainian prisoners of war in Russia.
"We have read about that in Sybiha's social media, that is all," she said.
Sybiha wrote on X on Friday that a certain country was ready to "become a protecting power under the Geneva Conventions" and assist "thousands of Ukrainian POWs, civilian hostages, and forcibly deported children" allegedly held in Russia. He did not specify what country that would be.