Ukraine and its European partners want to see an unconditional armistice for at least 30 days, a demand that the USA has also backed. Russia's President Vladimir Putin has consistently rejected the demands.
The Russian statement comes after Ukraine and Russia initiated a new prisoner exchange. The agreement to hand over 1,000 each to the opposing party was made at the meeting in Istanbul on May 16 between Russian and Ukrainian representatives.
Zelenskyj: Expectation of continuation
"Today - 390 people. On Saturday and Sunday, we expect the prisoner exchange to continue", he writes.
The information about the ongoing exchange came first from the USA's President Donald Trump.
"Congratulations to both parties for this negotiation. This can lead to something big???" he wrote earlier on his own platform Truth Social.
Accused of killing prisoners
The Ukrainian prosecutor's office announced on Friday that it had launched investigations into around 270 Ukrainian prisoners of war who Russian forces are accused of having killed since the large-scale war started in February 2022. According to the authority, the increase in cases has connections to instructions from both Russian political and military quarters.
Ukraine has repeatedly accused Russia of killing soldiers who have been captured, including those who have been injured or surrendered. Russia denies allegations that the country has committed war crimes in Ukraine, and has in turn accused Ukraine of killing captured Russian soldiers.
Since the outbreak of war in 2022, hundreds of prisoners of war have been exchanged between the countries. Earlier in May, they exchanged 410 captured soldiers, 205 each.
