Russia and Ukraine agreed Friday to exchange 1,000 prisoners of war each, the head of Russia's delegation Vladimir Medinsky said after their peace talks ended in the Dolmabache palace, in Istanbul, Turkey. Medinsky also said Moscow and Kyiv agreed to provide each other with detailed proposals for a ceasefire.
Such an exchange would be their biggest POW swap since the start of the war in 2022.
Ukraine requested a meeting between heads of state, and according to Medinsky, Russia will take it under consideration as they are ready to continue talks.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy did not attend the talks, he is in Tirana, Albania, for a meeting with leaders of 47 European countries to discuss security, defense and democratic standards against the backdrop of the war.
"If the Russian representatives in Istanbul today cannot even agree to that, to (a) ceasefire, to this clearly necessary first step, then it will be 100% clear that Putin continues to undermine diplomacy," Zelenskyy said.
"If that's not the case, there must be at least some result today, starting with a ceasefire," he said.
Russia-Ukraine Peace Talks In Turkey
The Turkish Foreign Ministry and a senior Ukrainian official confirmed with the Associated Press that the first direct peace talks between Russia and Ukraine since the early weeks of Moscow's 2022 invasion ended Friday after less than two hours in Turkey.
Kyiv accused the Kremlin of introducing new "unacceptable demands" to withdraw Ukrainian forces from huge swaths of territory, according to the official, who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to make official statements.
The demands had not been previously discussed, the official said.
He said the Ukrainian side reiterated it remained focused on achieving real progress 바카라” an immediate ceasefire and a pathway to substantive diplomacy, "just like the U.S., European partners, and other countries proposed," the official added.
The Turkish Foreign Ministry also said in a statement that the session ended.
The two sides sat at a U-shaped table but remained far apart in their conditions for ending the war.
Who Said What Ahead Of Talks
U.S. President Donald Trump, who has pressed both Moscow and Kyiv for an end to the conflict, saying a meeting between himself and Russian President Vladimir Putin would happen "as soon as we can set it up."
"I think it's time for us to just do it," Trump told reporters in Abu Dhabi as he wrapped up a trip to the Middle East.
In Istanbul, a Ukrainian delegation led by Defense Minister Rustem Umerov sat opposite a low-level Russian team headed by presidential aide Vladimir Medinsky, according to Ukraine's Foreign Ministry spokesperson Heorhii Tykhyi, who published a photo of the meeting.
Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan had opened the session by urging the parties "to take advantage of this opportunity," adding that it was "critically important that the ceasefire happens as soon as possible."
Both countries engaged in diplomatic maneuvering this week as they tried to show Trump that they are eager to negotiate, although he has expressed frustration over the slow progress and threatened to punish foot-dragging.
On Thursday, Putin spurned an offer by Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelenskyy to meet face-to-face in Turkey. Zelenskyy accused Moscow of not making a serious effort to end the war by sending a low-level delegation.
Ukraine has accepted a U.S. and European proposal for a full, 30-day ceasefire, but Putin has effectively rejected it by imposing far-reaching conditions.
Commenting on a possible Trump-Putin meeting, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov appeared to indicate that momentum for such a summit is building. He told reporters that top-level talks were "certainly needed," but added that preparing a summit would take time.
(With AP inputs)
