08 February 2026
(PHOTO COLLAGE: Intent)
Moldovan President Maia Sandu has rejected a proposal to be nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize, saying that the prize is deserved primarily by those who truly sacrifice themselves for peace.
She made this statement after watching footage of the return of Ukrainian soldiers from captivity on February 5, Newsmaker reported.
"I watched the Ukrainians who returned home from Russia, and these are the people who deserve the Peace Prize. Those who give their lives for peace because they want to bring it back to their country, to their villages and cities, to our continent," the Moldovan president said.
The day before, Norwegian MP Arild Hermstad proposed to nominate Moldovan President Maia Sandu for the Nobel Peace Prize. According to him, Sandu deserves to be nominated for her peaceful resistance to Russian interference, defense of democracy, and her course of rapprochement with the European Union.
The Nobel Peace Prize is one of six Nobel Prizes bequeathed by Swedish industrialist and inventor Alfred Nobel. According to Nobel's will, the Peace Prize should be awarded to the person who makes the greatest or best contribution to friendly relations between nations; to the abolition or reduction of existing armies; and to the holding or agitation of peaceful congresses. Alfred Nobel's will also stipulated that the prize should be awarded by a five-member Norwegian Nobel Committee, to be elected by the Norwegian Parliament.
In the latest prisoner exchange with Russia, five Ukrainian defenders from Odesa region, who had spent almost four years in Russian captivity, returned home. On February 5, Ukraine and Russia conducted the first prisoner exchange since October. 157 Ukrainians returned home, and a similar number of occupants were sent to Russia. This is the 71st exchange to date. 150 soldiers and seven civilians returned home. 139 of the released Ukrainian citizens had been in Russian captivity since 2022.
Кирило Бойко