The Kremlin spokesman has commented on the prospects for the exchange of held persons between Ukraine and Russia.
"Putin did say that such a conversation [about the exchange] is underway," Russian President's Press Secretary Dmitry Peskov told journalists in Moscow, according to a UNIAN correspondent in the Russian Federation.
"There is readiness on the part of the Russian side. It is very important that this readiness meets reciprocity from the Ukrainian side. We heard certain statements from Kyiv that there, too, is an understanding of the need to advance in this area," said Peskov, answering the UNIAN correspondent's question on when the exchange can take place and whether it is possible before the early elections to the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, scheduled for July 21.
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"This will require bilateral work, which cannot be open and public. In this case, patience is needed," he added.
As UNIAN reported earlier, on June 20, for the first time, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced the possibility of exchanging held persons between Ukraine and Russia. He said that the issue had always been in the field of attention of the Kremlin and added that the issue of the exchange "quite recently" was raised by Viktor Medvedchuk, chairman of the political council of the "Opposition Platform - For Life" Party on behalf of ex-president of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko, and later – on his own behalf."
