A second cycle of peace talks between Russia and Ukraine ended without a major breakthrough, and only an agreement between the teams at war to exchange more prisoners of war.
Ukrainian negotiators said Russia again rejected an “unconditional ceasefire”-a key demand from kyiv and its allies in Europe and the United States.
The Russian team said they had proposed a truce of two to three days “in certain” areas “of the large front line, but gave no other details.
During the talks on Monday, which were held in the Turkish city of Istanbul and lasted a little more than an hour, the two parties agreed to exchange all the sick and heavy prisoners of war, as well as those under 25.
The expectations were low before the talks did not start, the two parties remaining deeply divided on how to end the war that has raged since Russia launched its large -scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
Moscow currently controls around 20% of the Ukrainian territory, including the South Crimea peninsula which it annexed in 2014.
Speaking in a briefing after the meeting, the Ukrainian Defense Minister Rustem Umerov, who managed the kyiv negotiation team, said that Ukraine insisted on a complete and unconditional ceasefire “for at least 30 days to” end the killings now “.
He said that Ukraine had submitted his truce proposals to Russia “a few days ago” – but Moscow did not do the same, presenting only his plan during the talks in Istanbul.
The Ukrainian Foreign Affairs Deputy Minister Serhiy Kyslytsia then said that Russia rejected the unconditional ceasefire.
Ukraine negotiators said they expected Russia’s response to Ukrainian proposals by the end of June, highlighting the need to prepare for direct talks between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and the Vladimir Putin of Russia.
Speaking shortly after during a separate press briefing, the head of the Russian delegation Vladimir Medinsky confirmed that all sick and heavy prisoners of war and those under 25 would be exchanged. No deadline has been given as of the time it happens.
Medinsky also said that next week Russia would give kyiv the bodies of 6,000 Ukrainian soldiers.
During the first round of direct peace talks, held on May 16, Ukraine and Russia failed to fill their differences on how to end the war, only accepting to exchange 1,000 prisoners of war each.
President Zelensky and his European allies have repeatedly accused Russia of having deliberately delayed any significant negotiations to grasp more Ukrainian territory.
US President Donald Trump, who has put pressure on rapid settlement, has so far delayed Russia’s strike with difficult sanctions.
In a rare reprimand last month, Trump called Putin “absolutely crazy” After the biggest drone and missile attacks in Russia against Ukraine. In response, the Kremlin said Trump showed signs of “emotional overload”.
