Kyiv, Moscow announce truce in Oleshky, exchange 270 prisoners of war

The White House says US First Lady Melania Trump has brokered a ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine in the Russian-occupied Ukrainian town of Oleshky, while Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy suggests peace negotiators meet next month for follow-up talks.

A truce in the front-line war city of Oleshky, which is located across Ukraine's Dnipro River from Kherson, is set to go into effect on October 27.

Oleshky had 1,700 to 2,000 residents remaining, down from 24,000 before it was seized by Russia during the first days of the war.

Both Russia and Ukraine say Melania Trump played a crucial role in coordinating the agreement.

Melania Trump, who was actively facilitating the return of Ukrainian kids seized by the Russian army, noted in a news release that the city was "on the brink of disaster."

The Ukrainian Parliament Commissioner for Human Rights on Friday thanked the American first lady and her team for "their leadership efforts."

Under the terms of their agreement, aid will be delivered to Oleshky and civilians will be allowed to move freely out of the city.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said a latest call between the heads of state of Russia and the United States discussed the efforts to help organise a humanitarian mission. Peskov said the military are dealing with coordination of the timing of a ceasefire in that area.

Separately, Zelenskyy spoke with US presidential envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner in Norway on Friday, insisting any peace deal would need strong security guarantees for his country and funding for ten years to maintain the Ukrainian army.

The Ukrainian president has proposed a plan to meet on resuming new peace talks with the participation of Europe in the first half of November.

Also on Friday, the Russian Defence Ministry announced Moscow and Kyiv swapped 270 servicemen each in a prisoner exchange.

The Russian side received soldiers who were initially moved through Belarus for medical and psychological support.

In addition, seven civilians were handed over to reunite with their families in Russia.