Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov held a telephone conversation with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Saturday, 17 May, the press service of the Russian Foreign Ministry has said.
It is known that during the conversation Lavrov welcomed the “positive role” of the United States in facilitating the resumption of talks between Russia and Ukraine.
Also in its telegram channel, the Russian Foreign Ministry said that Lavrov agreed with Rubio to “continue further contacts between Russia and the United States.”
According to the Russian Foreign Ministry, the US supported the proposal for a “1,000-for-1,000” prisoner exchange and preparations for a ceasefire.
The US has not yet publicly commented on the conversation between Lavrov and Rubio.
The first direct talks between Ukraine and Russian Federation in Istanbul in three years ended after about 90 minutes of dialogue. Ukrainian Defence Minister Rustem Umerov said after the talks that the topic of discussion was prisoner exchange and ceasefire.
Subsequently, Kremlin spokesman Dmitriy Peskov also mentioned a 1,000-by-1,000 prisoner exchange among the agreements reached at the 16 May talks in Istanbul.