IN BRIEF: Truce, POW exchange in thousand for thousand format: Kremlin aide's statements

MOSCOW: Russia has agreed to the initiative of US President Donald Trump on a truce with Ukraine from May 9 to 11 and a prisoners of war exc...

MOSCOW: Russia has agreed to the initiative of US President Donald Trump on a truce with Ukraine from May 9 to 11 and a prisoners of war exchange with Kiev during this period in a thousand for a thousand format, said Russian Presidential Aide Yury Ushakov.

TASS has compiled the key statements of the presidential aide.

Armistice and prisoner of war exchange

Russia agreed to Trump's initiative for a truce with Ukraine from May 9 to 11 and a prisoners of war exchange in a thousand-for-a-thousand format with Kiev during this period: "On behalf of the President of the Russian Federation, Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin, I confirm the acceptability for the Russian side of the initiative just proposed by US President Donald Trump regarding a truce for the exchange of prisoners of war between Russia and Ukraine.

"The main thing is that it was agreed to exchange a thousand prisoners of war each during the truce period from 9 to 11 May inclusive."

Telephone contacts between Russia and the United States, as well as Washington's interaction with Kiev made the agreement on a truce on May 9-11 possible: "An agreement on this matter was reached during our telephone contacts with the administration of the president of the United States. The US representatives, in turn, were in touch with Kiev."

The agreement "develops a recent telephone conversation between the presidents of Russia and the United States, in which the leaders emphasized that our countries were allies during WWII, and also discussed the possibility of a truce during the Victory Day celebrations."

The importance of the initiative

The Kremlin considers it important that the initiative for a truce with Kiev coincides with the celebrations of the anniversary of the Great Victory: "It is important that President Trump's initiative is timed to coincide with the 81st anniversary of the Victory over Nazism, our holy holiday."

-News Feed