Russian Foreign Ministry: US Welcomes Prisoner Swap, Ceasefire Talks with Ukraine
Minister Lavrov, for his part, acknowledged what the statement described as the "constructive role" of the United States in encouraging Ukraine to re-engage in talks, according to the press release.
ERBIL (Kurdistan24) — Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio held a telephone conversation on Saturday to discuss the outcomes of the latest round of Russian-Ukrainian negotiations, according to a press release issued by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation.
The call, initiated by the American side, focused primarily on the results of the Russian-Ukrainian talks held a day earlier in Istanbul. Both parties exchanged views on the progress made during the negotiations.
Secretary Rubio reportedly welcomed the agreements reached on the exchange of prisoners of war and the mutual commitment to drafting proposals that could form the basis for a potential ceasefire. According to the press release, he also reiterated Washington’s readiness to support continued diplomatic efforts toward a negotiated settlement.
Minister Lavrov, for his part, acknowledged what the statement described as the "constructive role" of the United States in encouraging Ukraine to re-engage in talks based on President Vladimir Putin’s proposal to resume negotiations in Istanbul. Lavrov reaffirmed Russia’s openness to continuing coordination with American counterparts in this context.
In addition to discussing Ukraine, the two diplomats addressed a range of other international and regional issues and affirmed the importance of maintaining ongoing Russian-American diplomatic contacts.
On Thursday, during his flight aboard Air Force One from Doha to Abu Dhabi, President Donald Trump addressed reporters' questions regarding the composition of the Russian delegation at the Istanbul talks. When asked if he was disappointed by the low-level representation from Moscow, Trump responded, "I'm not disappointed in anything." He further emphasized that meaningful progress in the peace process would require a direct meeting between himself and President Putin, stating, "I don't believe anything's going to happen whether you like it or not, until he and I get together."
The Istanbul meeting marked the first significant diplomatic engagement between Moscow and Kyiv in several weeks, as previous attempts to negotiate a ceasefire had stalled amid escalating hostilities on the ground. The revival of talks is widely seen as a response to growing international pressure on both sides to de-escalate the conflict and mitigate humanitarian suffering, especially as the war's impact continues to reverberate across global energy and food markets.
