<p>Ukraine and pro-Russian rebels were today set to complete a swap of hundreds of prisoners as part of a new push for peace that came despite Kiev's decision to cut off key transport links to breakaway Crimea.<br /><br /></p>.<p>The exchange began yesterday on a dark and isolated stretch of a road north of the devastated eastern rebel stronghold of Donetsk, and unfolded as negotiators from both sides held video talks on Skype at reviving stalled negotiations.<br /><br />The swap involves a total of 222 guerrillas and 145 Ukrainian troops. A final five were due to be handed to Ukraine today from the neighbouring separatist province of Lugansk, according to a rebel spokeswoman.<br /><br />Talks mediated by European and Russian envoys in the Belarussian capital Minsk on Wednesday had been supposed to pave the way for a final round yesterday and the signing of a comprehensive peace accord.<br /><br />But Wednesday's acrimonious session broke up after five hours, with a deal reached on only the least contentious of the four agenda points: the prisoner swap.<br /><br />And Ukraine's suspension yesterday of all bus and rail services to Crimea -- a decision made citing security concerns that effectively severed the peninsula of 2.3 million from the mainland -- added to the hostile tenor of the negotiations.<br /><br />The video conferences, set to continue today, have so far failed to produce a new date for direct talks.<br /><br />The prisoner handover now stands out as a rare example of cooperation between the two bitter enemies.<br /><br />Some of the captives expressed surprise and joy at having the chance to go home in time for New Year's Eve -- the most cherished of all the holidays celebrated in once-communist eastern Europe.<br /><br />"They only just told us that this would happen," said a slightly older Ukrainian soldier named Artyom Syurik.<br /><br />"I am looking forward to seeing my parents and wife. They do not know I am coming."<br /><br />Yet a rebel named Denis Balbukov sounded defiant as he sat in a Kamaz truck waiting to go home to Donetsk.<br /><br />"I will go back to fighting," the 21-year-old said. "It was alright once we were moved to the detention centre, but to begin with, they really tormented and roughed us up."<br /><br />But he too was looking forward to going home, adding: "I want to eat fried potatoes and talk to my relatives."<br /><br />The two warring sides lined up the prisoners some 100 metres apart in the no-man's land between their frontlines, with heavily-armed soldiers and rebels fidgeting nervously in the dark with their automatic rifles.</p>
<p>Ukraine and pro-Russian rebels were today set to complete a swap of hundreds of prisoners as part of a new push for peace that came despite Kiev's decision to cut off key transport links to breakaway Crimea.<br /><br /></p>.<p>The exchange began yesterday on a dark and isolated stretch of a road north of the devastated eastern rebel stronghold of Donetsk, and unfolded as negotiators from both sides held video talks on Skype at reviving stalled negotiations.<br /><br />The swap involves a total of 222 guerrillas and 145 Ukrainian troops. A final five were due to be handed to Ukraine today from the neighbouring separatist province of Lugansk, according to a rebel spokeswoman.<br /><br />Talks mediated by European and Russian envoys in the Belarussian capital Minsk on Wednesday had been supposed to pave the way for a final round yesterday and the signing of a comprehensive peace accord.<br /><br />But Wednesday's acrimonious session broke up after five hours, with a deal reached on only the least contentious of the four agenda points: the prisoner swap.<br /><br />And Ukraine's suspension yesterday of all bus and rail services to Crimea -- a decision made citing security concerns that effectively severed the peninsula of 2.3 million from the mainland -- added to the hostile tenor of the negotiations.<br /><br />The video conferences, set to continue today, have so far failed to produce a new date for direct talks.<br /><br />The prisoner handover now stands out as a rare example of cooperation between the two bitter enemies.<br /><br />Some of the captives expressed surprise and joy at having the chance to go home in time for New Year's Eve -- the most cherished of all the holidays celebrated in once-communist eastern Europe.<br /><br />"They only just told us that this would happen," said a slightly older Ukrainian soldier named Artyom Syurik.<br /><br />"I am looking forward to seeing my parents and wife. They do not know I am coming."<br /><br />Yet a rebel named Denis Balbukov sounded defiant as he sat in a Kamaz truck waiting to go home to Donetsk.<br /><br />"I will go back to fighting," the 21-year-old said. "It was alright once we were moved to the detention centre, but to begin with, they really tormented and roughed us up."<br /><br />But he too was looking forward to going home, adding: "I want to eat fried potatoes and talk to my relatives."<br /><br />The two warring sides lined up the prisoners some 100 metres apart in the no-man's land between their frontlines, with heavily-armed soldiers and rebels fidgeting nervously in the dark with their automatic rifles.</p>