US President Donald Trump on Friday announced a “major” prisoner swap between Ukraine and Russia.
“A major prisoners swap was just completed between Russia and Ukraine,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform.
“Congratulations to both sides on this negotiation. This could lead to something big???” he said, without providing further details.
His announcement follows Moscow and Kyiv agreeing during talks in Istanbul this month to exchange 1,000 prisoners each.
The warring countries have held many rounds of swaps since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
In such an exchange this month, the two sides each released 205 captured soldiers.
Separately, the Kremlin said this week that Russian President Vladimir Putin and Trump discussed a bilateral prisoner swap with the United States.
The US president’s push for an immediate ceasefire in Ukraine has been rebuffed by Putin.
Moscow’s work on a memorandum concerning the Ukraine crisis is at an advanced stage, and a second round of talks with Kyiv is expected, Lavrov said.
“Yes, we are all for talks. Yes, there will be a second round.
“They (the Ukrainian authorities) have confirmed it. This is a positive development in itself,” Lavrov said at a high-level conference on historical southern Russian lands.
He confirmed that preparations are ongoing.
“Work (on a memorandum) is underway.
“I don’t know about Ukraine, but our work has reached an advanced stage, and we will hand the memorandum over to the Ukrainians in any case,” he said.
Lavrov cast doubt on Friday on the Vatican as a potential place for peace talks with Ukraine.
Italy, the pope and the United States had voiced hope the city-state could host negotiations.
The Kremlin said no decision had been taken yet on a location for the next round of talks with Ukraine to end more than three years of conflict, after Moscow and Kyiv met for talks in Istanbul last week.
“It would be a bit inelegant for Orthodox countries to discuss, on Catholic ground, issues related to eliminating root causes (of the conflict),” Lavrov said, accusing Kyiv of “destroying” the Ukrainian Orthodox Church.
He added: “For the Vatican itself it would not be very comfortable to, in these circumstances, host delegations from Orthodox countries.”
Moscow has had strained relations with the Vatican for centuries.
Italy has said Pope Leo XIV was ready to host the peace talks after US leader Donald Trump suggested the Vatican as a location.
The Kremlin said on Friday that the location of a venue “cannot be taken by one side”.
“We need the agreement of both sides,” it stressed.
“At the moment there is no decision or agreements on the next negotiation venue,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.
“This decision will be taken when the time is ripe,” he added.
Russia’s role in Ukraine since its 2014 annexation of Crimea has led to Ukrainian believers turning away from Russia’s Moscow patriarchy.
Kyiv created its own Orthodox church, independent from Moscow, in 2018 and banned the Russian-backed branch of the Orthodox church after Russia’s full-scale 2022 offensive.
Russia’s Orthodox Church was created after the 1054 East-West Schism, and Moscow has since had frosty relations with the Vatican.
This continued during the anti-religion Soviet period. No pope has ever visited Russia.
