Lavrov: we will hand over draft agreement to Kiev after prisoner exchange
Trump applauds big prisoner exchange. Merz asks Xi for help with truce. Montezemolo from Trento: 'Europe is in crisis but holds firm on Ukraine'
3' min read
3' min read
Russia will hand over to Ukraine the draft agreement with the conditions for resolving the conflict after the prisoner exchange is complete, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said, whose statements were reported by Russian news agencies.
"We are actively working on the second part of the agreements, which involves the preparation by each side of a draft document outlining the conditions for reaching a sustainable, long-term and comprehensive settlement agreement. As soon as the POW exchange is completed, we will be ready to hand over to the Ukrainian side a draft of such a document, which the Russian side is now finalising,' he concluded. Today, the largest prisoner exchange since the beginning of the war is taking place between Ukraine and Russia. It will last several days. Sources in Rbc-Ukraine report that Kiev and Moscow will release 1,000 prisoners each, as agreed during the Istanbul talks.
A second round of talks between Russia and Ukraine will certainly take place, Minister Lavrov anticipated. "Yes, we are all in favour of talks, yes, there will be a second round. The Ukrainians have confirmed this. This is a positive development in itself," he added. "Work on a memorandum (requested by Russia, ed) is ongoing. I cannot say about Ukraine but our work has reached an advanced stage and we will still deliver the memorandum to the Ukrainians."
Lavrov doubted the choice of the Vatican as a potential venue for the meeting, a hypothesis he described as "unrealistic". As reported by the Tass news agency, Lavrov explained that "it would be inelegant to discuss, when the Orthodox countries are to meet, issues related to the elimination of root causes, on a Catholic platform. I think it would not be very comfortable for the Vatican itself under these conditions to receive delegations from two Orthodox countries'.
"Switzerland has confirmed its readiness to also host future meetings aimed at reaching a peaceful solution" in the conflict in Ukraine, the head of the Ukrainian presidential office, Andriy Yermak, wrote on Telegram after a conversation with Switzerland's national security adviser, Gabriel Lüchinger, with whom - he emphasised - "the future of the dialogue for a just peace was also discussed: let's keep working".
