MOSCOW (AP) - France’s top diplomat says a major prisoner swap between Russia and Ukraine should act as a catalyst for improved ties between his country and Moscow.
Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian told reporters Monday after his talks with the Russian foreign minister in Moscow that the “time has come to reduce distrust” with Russia.
France’s relations with Russia tanked after Russia annexed Ukraine’s Crimea and threw its weight behind separatists in Ukraine’s east. The European Union and other nations then slapped Russia with a flurry of sanctions.
Drian’s comments follow the prisoner exchange between Russia and Ukraine in which 70 people, including high-profile inmates such as film director Oleg Sentsov, were freed.
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