MOSCOW: Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, in a phone conversation with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, called for return to "silent diplomacy" on the issue of prisoner exchange, without speculation and stuffing, the Russian Foreign Ministry said following the conversation.
"Regarding the possible exchange of imprisoned Russian citizens, the United States has been urged by the Russian side to return to a professional dialogue in the 'silent diplomacy' mode, without speculative media stuffing," the ministry said.
Negotiations on the exchange of prisoners between Russia and the United States are being conducted, but there is no concrete result yet, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said earlier, commenting on a US statement about a possible exchange of Russian Viktor Bout for Americans Brittney Griner and Paul Whelan.