Trump: Russia-Ukraine prisoner swap may be step toward peace

US President Donald Trump welcomed the Russia-Ukraine prisoner exchange Saturday as a potential step toward peace.

"Russia and Ukraine just swapped large numbers of prisoners. Very good news, perhaps a first giant step to peace. Congratulations to both countries!" Trump tweeted.

Earlier, the US special envoy for Ukraine, Kurt Volker, said he hoped the swap would lead to more exchanges, a renewed ceasefire and full implementation of a peace accord signed by Russia and Ukraine in 2015 in Minsk, the capital of Belarus.

In Saturday's swap, planes carrying 35 prisoners from each side landed simultaneously in Moscow and Kiev.

Relations between Kiev and Moscow nose-dived in 2014 when Russia annexed Crimea and Moscow backed separatists in the eastern industrial regions of Donetsk and Lugansk. Fighting there has claimed more than 13,000 lives over the past five years.

"We are encouraged to see signs of a more robust dialogue between Russia and Ukraine," a US State Department official told AFP.

He said the US supports Ukrainian President Vlodymyr Zelensky's efforts to achieve "a diplomatic solution to the Russia-instigated conflict in eastern Ukraine." "We call on Russia to immediately release all other Ukrainians, including members of the Crimean Tatar community, who remain unjustly imprisoned," the official said.

"We continue to urge Russia to honor its commitments under the Minsk agreements and to return control of Crimea to Ukraine," the official added.