Kremlin Says Interested In 'All For All' Prisoner Exchange With Kyiv

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov (file photo)

The Kremlin has said it is interested in an "all for all" prisoner exchange with Ukraine.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters in Moscow on October 4 that "certain work is being done in that direction."

"Everything depends on readiness of the two sides," Peskov said.

Peskov's statement comes a day after Ukrainian Foreign Minister Vadym Prystayko said that "a wide-scale prisoner exchange" will be carried out next week.

On September 7, Russia and Ukraine exchanged a total of 70 prisoners in a move praised by the West as an opportunity to improve tense relations between Kyiv and Moscow.

The exchange was the first major prisoner swap between the two countries since 2017.

The two countries' relations have been tense since Russia annexed Ukraine's Crimea region in March 2014 and started backing pro-Moscow separatists in Ukraine's east, where more than 13,000 people have been killed in the ongoing conflict.

Based on reporting by Interfax, UNIAN, and TASS