If the words of Valerii Zaluzhnyi, the former commander of Ukraine’s armed forces and now ambassador to the UK, still carry weight with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, they could signal a shift in Ukraine’s wartime priorities.

Russia and Ukraine began a major prisoner exchange Friday, swapping hundreds of soldiers and civilians in the first phase of an exchange that was a moment of cooperation in otherwise failed efforts to reach a ceasefire in the 3-year-old war.

The hourslong raids, involving hundreds of drones, were a reminder that any diplomatic resolution to the conflict remains far off.