Officials from Russia and Ukraine ended the third round of formal negotiations in Istanbul with an agreement on the exchange of more prisoners, but few signs of progress in agreement to stop war.
By the end of August, Ukraine has proposed the summis of both countries, which should also include US President Donald Trump and Turkish leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Ukrainian head of the delegation, Secretary of Security and Defense Council Rust Umerov, told reporters after interviews.
There is no point in the summit without first negotiating a peace agreement, Russian presidential assistant Vladimir Medinsky, who led the delegation of Moscow, said in response to a press conference. “There is no point in meeting to discuss it again from scratch,” he said.
Medinsky said that both parties agreed to the new exchange of about 1,200 prisoners, and Russia also proposed to return the bodies of 3,000 Ukrainian soldiers.
While Russian and Ukrainian negotiations “positions are quite distant”, they agreed to continue in contact, Medinsky said. Russia proposed to set up three working groups on political issues, humanitarian issues and military affairs, he said.
Umerov said that Ukraine continues to insist on a full and unconditional ceasefire to allow peace interviews. It was up to Russia to show a constructive and realistic approach, he said.
Umerov and Medinsky met with direct conversations before negotiating the main group, which lasted less than 40 minutes.
“The final goal is a ceasefire that will prepare a way to peace,” said Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan in television comments at the beginning of the meeting. “Turkey is ready as always to support the process.”
The latest discussion took place after Trump released a 50 -day deadline for Russian President Vladimir Putin to agree to a ceasefire, and threaten “very serious” secondary sanctions against countries buying Russian oil and gas unless they keep it. Trump also said that the US would send further military assistance to Ukraine, including Patriot Air Defense Systems, which will pay European allies in Kiev.
In recent weeks, Russia has released record -breaking drones and missiles on Ukrainian cities, which made Trumpa accuse Putin of lack of sincerity in diplomacy to end the war. “He speaks nice and then all the bomb in the evening,” Trump said.
The previous rounds of Istanbul interviews between Ukraine and Russia in June and May led to the exchange of prisoners, but no progress in negotiations to end the Russian invasion that began in February 2022.
Global Preview: Istanbul speaks unlikely to provide the peace of Ukraine
Russia rejected calls from Ukraine and its American and European allies for a ceasefire to allow peace interviews. The Kremlin maintains hard requirements for Kiev to accept neutral status and withdraw forces from four regions of eastern and southern Ukraine, which Moscow claims but does not work fully.
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