Ukraine and Russia have agreed to swap a 1,000 prisoners of war each in a major breakthrough in peace talks.
Kyiv Defence Minister Rustem Umerov has said a date for the swap has been agreed but will not be made public.
Umerov also says a potential meeting between Volodymyr Zelensky and Vladimir Putin was discussed and that an announcement about a possible new round of talks will be announced soon.
Meanwhile, head of the Russian delegation in Istanbul, Vladimir Medinsky said: “We have agreed that each side will present its vision of a possible future ceasefire.”
Ukraine and Russia came to an agreement over prisoners of war
Reuters
The negotiators were in Istanbul for their first direct peace talks in more than three years, under pressure from President Donald Trump to end Europe’s deadliest conflict since World War Two.”
In general, we are satisfied with the result and are ready to continue contacts. In the coming days, there will be a massive thousand-for-thousand prisoner exchange,” said Medinsky.
“The Ukrainian side requested direct talks between the leaders of the states. We have taken note of this request,” he added
“We have agreed that each side will present its vision of a possible future ceasefire and spell it out in detail. After such a vision has been presented, we believe it would be appropriate, as also agreed, to continue our negotiations.”
LATEST DEVELOPMENTS FROM THE FRONTLINE IN UKRAINE
Head of Ukrainian delegation and Ukrainian Defence Minister, Rustem Umerov,
Reuters
Vladimir Medinsky, head of the Russian delegation in Istanbul for potential peace talks with UkraineReutersMeanwhile, Umerov wrote on social media that peace is possible only if Russia agrees to a 30-day ceasefire, the return of abducted children and an all-for-all prisoner-of-war swap.
He wrote on Facebook that the Ukrainian delegation had come to the meeting to find “real paths to a sustainable and just peace.”
More to follow…
