MOSCOW, September 7. /TASS/. The administration of Ukraine’s President Vladimir Zelensky has demonstrated a sensible approach and readiness for compromises, unlike his predecessors, Russia’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Saturday commenting on the Moscow-Kiev prisoner swap.
"It has become possible in the course of implementation of the personal agreements between the Russian and Ukrainian presidents. Unlike his predecessors, V. Zelensky’s new administration showed a sensible approach and readiness for compromises".
Russia hopes that the Moscow-Kiev prisoner swap will create an encouraging background for the Contact Group at Minsk talks and for the Normandy Four group (comprising Russia, Ukraine, France and Germany), the ministry said.
"We view the coordinated mutual release of detainees held in Russia and Ukraine as a positive signal which should be followed by other important steps so as to break the current impasse in the Russian-Ukrainian relations and in the implementation of the Minsk agreements," the ministry stressed.
"We are hoping that this step will create a positive background for substantive work at the Contact Group and the Normandy [Four] group," the ministry added in the statement, confirming that Moscow was ready to keep facilitating "any constructive actions aimed at reaching an accord between the parties to the intra-Ukrainian conflict.".