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Envoys to Ukraine peace talks are discussing an exchange of prisoners before the New Year, according to a separatist leader, as Russia criticized the country for having NATO ambitions.

The talks may continue for about two days and no agreements have been reached yet, Alexander Zakharchenko, leader of the self-proclaimed Donetsk Peoples Republic, told the pro-Russian rebels news website.

Ukraine, Russia and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe sent representatives to Minsk, Belarus, yesterday to hold the first of two planned rounds of talks. The participants, including separatist negotiators, left the venue without commenting to reporters.

The main task at the moment is to stop the violence, Alexei Panin, deputy director of the Center for Political Information, a Moscow-based research group, said by phone.

A two-week truce has tempered the bloodshed in a conflict that has killed more than 4,700 people since April in fighting between government forces and separatists in Ukraines eastern Donetsk and Luhansk regions.

The talks cleared the last objections to a swap of 150 prisoners for 225, Zakharchenko said. Ukraines Security Service reiterated commitment to an all-for-all exchange, RIA Novosti reported. The press services of the security service and Ukraines Foreign Ministry didnt immediately respond to phone calls or e-mailed requests for comment.

In an address to the region earlier today, Zakharchenko accused the Ukrainian government of using the pause in talks to plan attacks on the rebel stronghold. Andriy Lysenko, a military spokesman, denied there are plans to resume an offensive, Interfax reported.

Ukraine has a list of 225 prisoners its ready to swap, Ukrainian State Security Service adviser Markiyan Lubkivsky said yesterday. That group includes Russian officers, he said, declining to disclose how many.

Ukraine said the pro-Russian rebels have used 19 drones for reconnaissance in the past 24 hours, a significant increase. The adversary hasnt dropped the intention to control, Lysenko told reporters today. They are monitoring how our troops are reinforcing and redeploying.

In a phone call at the start of the week, Ukraines President Petro Poroshenko, Russian President Vladimir Putin, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Francois Hollande said the contact groups agreements made in September still need to be fulfilled, including the withdrawal of heavy artillery, according to the Ukrainian presidents website.

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Ukraine Peace Talks Focus on Prisoner Swap Before New Year Break