Russia and Ukraine failed to reach a peace agreement to end the three years of war during the second round of talks on Monday in Istanbul, Turkiye. The two sides, however agreed on a prisoner exchange.
Russia rejected unconditional ceasefire, the key demand by Ukraine and its Western allies. The Russian delegation said they had proposed a two-to-three day truce instead "in certain areas" of the frontline, without providing further details.
Lasting for only two hours, the negotiations ended with no deal on a ceasefire but with an agreement on the exchange of prisoners between Russia and Ukraine.
The two sides agreed to swap 1,000 more prisoners of war each, with the possibility of exchange an additional 200 PoWs. In addition, Moscow and Kyiv agreed to exchange all sick and heavily wounded PoWs as well as young soldiers between 18 and 25 years old.
Speaking from Lithuania where he was on an official visit, Zelenskiy said on Monday that stronger sanctions needed to be imposed on Russia if Moscow did not agree to a ceasefire. Moreover, Zelenskiy revealed that his negotiators had given their Russian counterparts a list of up to 400 abducted Ukrainian children but than the Russian delegation agreed to return only ten of them. Russian representatives agreed that the swap would involve at least 1,000 prisoners of war and that all sick and wounded would be returned. The head of the Russian delegation, Vladimir Medinsky, confirmed only that it had received a list of 339 names of people Ukraine wanted returned.
Ukraine’s defence minister Rustem Umerov who led the Ukrainian delegation during talks said the return of abducted children was a “fundamental priority” for Kyiv. “If Russia is genuinely committed to a peace process, the return of at least half the children on this list is positive,” Umerov highlighted.
