Russia says draft peace document with Ukraine ready after prisoner exchange

ISTANBUL

Russia will hand over a draft settlement document to Ukraine once a prisoner exchange is finalized, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Friday, reiterating Moscow’s commitment to the diplomatic track initiated in Istanbul.

Lavrov said the prisoner swap, based on the “thousand for thousand” formula, marked the first direct agreement between Russia and Ukraine in three years. “We are completing our preparatory work,” he noted, adding that the draft document would follow once the exchange was implemented.

He also expressed dissatisfaction with the international response. “We are still waiting for a reaction from the UN to Ukraine’s attacks on civilian targets and its violations of the principles of warfare,” he said.

Talks in Istanbul, which previously yielded preliminary progress, included commitments to humanitarian actions such as prisoner exchanges.

Russia said it would continue working on conditions and requirements for further agreements despite "Ukrainian provocations."