Russia and Ukraine announced on Monday that they have reached an agreement during peace talks to conduct further prisoner-of-war exchanges and to repatriate the remains of 12,000 fallen soldiers.
The belligerent parties convened for just under an hour in Istanbul, Turkey, marking only the second such round of negotiations since March 2022.
Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan hailed the meeting as significant and expressed his hope of facilitating a future meeting in Turkey between Russia’s Vladimir Putin, Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelenskiy, and US President Donald Trump.
However, no breakthrough was achieved regarding a proposed ceasefire, which Ukraine, its European allies, and Washington have all urged Russia to accept.
Moscow maintains its objective is a long-term settlement, not merely a pause in hostilities; Kyiv, conversely, asserts that Putin has no genuine interest in peace.
Kremlin aide Vladimir Medinsky stated that Russian negotiators had presented their Ukrainian counterparts with a detailed memorandum outlining Moscow’s conditions for a comprehensive ceasefire.
Medinsky, who leads the Russian delegation, also indicated that Moscow had suggested a “specific ceasefire of two to three days in certain sections of the front” to allow for the collection of deceased soldiers’ bodies.
Both sides affirmed their commitment to transferring the bodies of 6,000 fallen soldiers to the other.
Furthermore, they agreed to conduct another substantial exchange of prisoners of war, building upon the initial exchange of 1,000 captives from each side following the first round of talks in Istanbul on May 15.
Ukrainian Defence Minister Rustem Umerov, who headed Kyiv’s delegation, specified that the new exchange would prioritize those severely wounded in the conflict and young individuals.
Umerov also revealed that Moscow had provided Ukraine with a draft peace accord, and Kyiv, which has drafted its own version, would review the Russian document.
Ukraine has proposed holding additional talks before the end of June, but believes that only a direct meeting between Zelenskiy and Putin can resolve the numerous contentious issues, Umerov stated.
Zelenskiy’s chief of staff, Andriy Yermak, confirmed that Kyiv’s delegation had requested the return of a list of children who, according to Ukraine, had been deported to Russia.
Moscow maintains that these children were relocated for their protection from ongoing fighting. Medinsky clarified that Ukraine’s list contained 339 names, but emphasized that the children had been “saved,” not abducted.
Low Expectations for Istanbul Breakthrough
The day prior, Ukraine had launched one of its most audacious attacks of the war, employing drones to target Russian nuclear-capable long-range bomber planes in Siberia and other locations.
Enraged war bloggers urged Moscow to unleash a strong retaliatory response.
While both nations, for differing reasons, are eager to keep Trump involved in the peace process, expectations for a significant breakthrough on Monday had remained low.
Ukraine views Russia’s current approach as an attempt to force its capitulation – a scenario Kyiv vows to never accept – while Moscow, which achieved its fastest battlefield advances in six months during May, asserts that Kyiv should accept peace on Russian terms or risk further territorial losses.
Putin articulated his initial terms for an immediate cessation of hostilities last June: Ukraine must abandon its aspirations to join the Western NATO alliance and withdraw its troops from the entirety of the four Ukrainian regions claimed and largely controlled by Russia.
According to a proposed roadmap drafted by Ukraine, a copy of which was reviewed by Reuters, Kyiv seeks no restrictions on its military strength after any peace agreement, no international recognition of Russian sovereignty over parts of Ukraine seized by Moscow’s forces, and reparations.
Russia currently controls just under one-fifth of Ukraine, approximately 113,100 sq km, which is roughly equivalent to the area of the U.S. state of Ohio.
Putin dispatched his army into Ukraine on February 24, 2022, following eight years of conflict in eastern Ukraine between Russian-backed separatists and Ukrainian forces.
The United States, which under Trump’s predecessor Joe Biden was Ukraine’s primary provider of advanced weaponry in the war, reports that over 1.2 million people have been killed and injured in the conflict since 2022.
Trump has publicly labeled Putin “crazy” and openly criticized Zelenskiy in the Oval Office, yet the U.S. president has also expressed his belief that peace is achievable and that if Putin delays, the U.S. could impose severe sanctions on Russia.
