Russia and Ukraine have announced that they each exchanged the same number of prisoners of war based on an agreement reached between the two sides last week.

Russia will be ready to hand Ukraine a draft document outlining conditions for a long-term peace accord once a prisoner exchange now under way is completed, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Friday.

The US and European leaders are placing their hopes in the Vatican to engage Russia and Ukraine in peace talks, after President Donald Trump said Pope Leo XIV had expressed interest in the idea. The Kremlin isn’t so keen.

President Trump stepped back from his demands for an immediate 30-day ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine following calls with Vladimir Putin and Volodymyr Zelensky on Monday, instead suggesting

The first high-level talks between Russia and Ukraine since the early months of Moscow's 2022 invasion showed they are far from agreement on steps needed for a ceasefire, even though they promised a major swap of prisoners of war.

KYIV (Reuters) -President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Monday that Kyiv and its partners were considering arranging a high-level meeting between Ukraine, Russia, the United States, European Union countries and Britain as part of a push to end Moscow's war in Ukraine.

Trump was also scheduled to speak by phone with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, something CNN reported took place before his conversation with Putin. Following those calls, he will speak with leaders of NATO member states, after having spoken with European leaders throughout Saturday and Sunday.