The Ukrainian authorities and separatists close to Russia in the east of the country agreed on Monday to exchange prisoners before the end of 2019, which is one of the measures to reduce the escalation that emerged from the Paris Peace Summit.
"We have reached an agreement to exchange prisoners before the end of the year, as was previously announced in the results of the ´Normandy´ summit in Paris," said Darka Olivier, a spokeswoman for Kiev negotiators. The summit included Russia, Ukraine, France and Germany.
Russian actor Boris Gryzlov and separatists also confirmed the news to Russian agencies. The agreement was reached during a three-way video conference between the three parties.
The conflict has left more than 13,000 people dead since 2014.
The Minsk peace accords in 2015 allowed for a significant reduction in violence, but the political settlement of the conflict remains stalled.
In September, Moscow and Kiev exchanged a large number of prisoners, the first sign of a breakthrough between the two neighbors since 2014.
