Moscow: Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov held a phone call with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio. During the call, the two sides discussed the results of the Russian-Ukrainian talks held in Istanbul. Rubio welcomed the agreement reached on the exchange of prisoners of war, commending each side's determination to prepare separate proposals setting out the conditions necessary for a ceasefire.

According to National Iraqi News Agency, the US Secretary of State affirmed Washington's readiness to continue supporting efforts aimed at reaching a negotiated political settlement. For his part, Lavrov praised the constructive role played by the United States in encouraging Kyiv to accept Russian President Vladimir Putin's initiative to resume negotiations in Istanbul, stressing Moscow's readiness to continue cooperating with the US side in this regard.

The call also addressed a number of international and regional issues of mutual interest, with the two ministers discussing ways to continue Russian-US contacts in the next phase.