Moscow and Kiev each agreed to exchange 1,000 prisoners of war during Friday’s peace talks in Istanbul, the first direct sit-down between the warring states in more than three years. Little progress was made toward a broader truce, however.
Speaking after the meeting, Russia’s chief negotiator, Vladimir Medinsky, said he was “satisfied” with the first round of talks in light of the prisoner swap deal, and suggested the dialogue would resume in the future.
“We agreed that each side will present its vision for the possible future ceasefire and write it out in detail,” he said. “Once that is done and this has been discussed too, we think it will be reasonable to continue our negotiations.”
Medinsky added that Ukraine had urged for direct meetings between the leaders of the two countries, and said the request would be taken “under advisement.”
While the head of Kiev’s delegation, Defense Minister Rustem Umerov, did not reveal any plans for additional talks, he confirmed the upcoming prisoner swap in comments to reporters, saying a date had been set without disclosing it.
Ahead of the meeting in the Turkish capital, Ukrainian officials demanded a complete and unconditional ceasefire for at least one month, a sweeping POW-swap, and a sit-down between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin. On Friday, Zelensky urged for new economic sanctions on Moscow should it refuse those terms.
“Our position – if the Russians reject a full and unconditional ceasefire and an end to killings, tough sanctions must follow. Pressure on Russia must be maintained until Russia is ready to end the war,” the Ukrainian leader wrote on social media.
Though the Kremlin has said it is open to a ceasefire – and attempted to implement a brief unilateral pause to coincide with Victory Day celebrations earlier this month – Russia now claims sovereignty over five formerly Ukrainian regions and insists it will not give them up. That is a non-starter for Kiev, which has refused to accept Russian control over any of its pre-2022 territory and demands the complete withdrawal of all Russian forces from Ukraine.
US President Donald Trump has repeatedly vowed to bring the war to an end, but said earlier this week that no progress would be made in the peace talks until he personally met with Putin. Following the negotiations on Friday, Trump said his administration was working to set up just such a meeting.
“I think it’s time for us to just do it,” he told reporters, later adding, “[Putin] and I will meet, and I think we’ll solve it or maybe not. At least we’ll know. And if we don’t solve it, it’ll be very interesting.”
Will Porter is assistant news editor and book editor at the Libertarian Institute, and a regular contributor at Antiwar.com. Find more of his work at Consortium News and ZeroHedge.
