The FSB confirmed on Thursday that eight Russians detained and held in custody in a number of NATO countries had been returned home.
A plane carrying the freed prisoners arrived at Moscow's Vnukovo-2 airport from Ankara late on Thursday, where they were greeted by Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Russia, in turn, has released 16 people, including seven Russians and five German citizens.
"Negotiations for this complex exchange were conducted through the FSB and CIA. This was the main channel through which the agreement was reached," Peskov told journalists.
Peskov highlighted that Moscow's firm stance on prisoner exchanges has been effective, resulting in the return of Russian citizens.
When US journalist Tucker Carlson asked Putin to extradite the convicted Americans as a gesture of goodwill, "Putin answered him that there can be no goodwill gestures here," Peskov told reporters.
"When they give ours back, then we can talk about it," he continued. "This tough position nevertheless yielded results, and our people returned to their homeland thanks to this position."
The fate of all Russians imprisoned in the US is a subject of constant concern, the presidential spokesman stressed, adding that the relevant departments will continue their work.
Peskov also dismissed accusations that Moscow is replenishing the "prisoner exchange pool" for bargaining with the West, calling them absurd and unjustified.
"Here we can answer the question with a question – what about those who make accusations against Russia, how do they respond to the constant arrests of Russians abroad, the constant arrests of Russians by the United States?" Peskov asked.
"What are the goals of the United States? Therefore, of course, these are completely unjustified and absurd accusations," he insisted.
Peskov revealed that US agents had attempted to influence a jailed Russian intelligence officer's father to persuade his son to betray his country — but the father instead validated his son's actions.
"According to one of the intelligence officers, the US, of course, tried to influence this officer employee who was imprisoned there, and they found the father of this employee here, and a phone call was organized," Peskov said. "During the phone call, the father, contrary to what was expected of him, actually said 'Son, you are doing the right thing, hold on.' It is also a very interesting case."
The negotiation process for prisoner exchanges and that for the Ukrainian issue involve different principles and areas of work, the spokesman noted.
"These are different areas of work and completely different situation," Peskov explained. "This work, which was carried out through the FSB and the CIA, of course, required very difficult negotiations, drawing up very complex schemes, agreements, and the involvement of a number of countries."
"If we talk about Ukraine and more complex international problems, this is a completely different matter," he stressed. "There are completely different principles there — these are the principles of our country's national interests, the interests of national security. The work there is conducted in a slightly different mode and according to different principles."