Faisal bin Farhan, the Saudi Minister of Foreign Affairs, said in exclusive statements to Al Arabiya that the release of the 10 foreign prisoners in the exchange deal between Russia and Ukraine took place with the direct intervention of Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the Saudi Crown Prince.
The Saudi Foreign Minister revealed the details of the largest prisoner exchange deal between Russia and Ukraine under the auspices of Saudi Arabia.
And Faisal bin Farhan, also in an exclusive interview with the American “Fox News” channel, said that Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman succeeded in persuading President Putin to release the prisoners, as part of a “humanitarian initiative.”
The Saudi foreign minister said, “There are always difficulties, and the dialogue was complicated, but in the end, His Highness the Crown Prince was able to convince President Putin that this is a humanitarian initiative worth working, and this is how we came to the conclusion. His Highness the Crown Prince has always been active on the world stage for a long time, and has emerged as a leader He is focused on achieving results, and this has earned him great respect among the leaders of the countries.”
He also revealed some details of the deal, stressing that the efforts began last April, and that the list of prisoners, which included 10 people, included 5 Britons.
He added, “We were able to get the 10 prisoners out through the intervention of His Highness, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who has been active in following up the case since last April, when he met former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, and understood the issue of the five British citizens and tried to reach an agreement with President Putin to get them out.” Since then, the crown prince has become deeply involved in the case.”
He said, “The Saudi contacts to complete the prisoners’ deal did not only include the two sides of the conflict, but also went beyond them to contacts with other international parties to discuss resolving the crisis as soon as possible.”
Faisal bin Farhan said, “When the crisis began last March, His Highness the Crown Prince communicated with Presidents Putin and Zelensky, as well as with leaders of other countries, to discuss ways to solve this crisis and others. We are actively working to find ways to better communicate, and this is very important because dialogue is the only way to solve issues”.