Russia will be ready to hand Ukraine a draft document outlining conditions for a long-term peace accord once a prisoner exchange now under way is completed, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Friday.

For hours Friday, a crowd of hopefuls stood on the roadside wrapped in blue-and-yellow flags and clutching photos of captured Ukrainian soldiers — their eyes peeled for any sign of buses. On board would be the first batch of Ukrainian troops released in the largest exchange of the war with Russia thus far — the only outcome of direct talks between Russia and Ukraine in Istanbul last week that failed to result in a ceasefire.