The second round of negotiations between Ukraine and Russia ended in Istanbul. About the results of the meeting at the press conference reported the head of the Ukrainian delegation is the Minister of Defense of Ukraine Rustem Umyerov.
According to him, issues regarding the ceasefire were also raised today.
“The first point is a ceasefire. The second is the release of our people, captives, kidnapped children. The third is a meeting of leaders. We agreed only on exchange.” – clarified Umerov.
The Russian side handed over its “memorandum” with the terms of ending the war directly during the meeting. The Ukrainian delegation submitted its document on May 28.
“Our team has a week to study the document, then we will coordinate our steps,” Umerov commented.
Ukraine has put forward three main demands to Russia: a three-month ceasefire, the release of all prisoners of war and the return of deported children, as well as the holding of a meeting between the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky and the President of the Russian Federation Volodymyr Putin.
Rustem Umerov also confirmed the agreement reached regarding the exchange of prisoners. It was agreed on the exchange of seriously ill prisoners of war, as well as young people aged 18 to 25. The exchange should take place in the “all-to-all” format. In addition, the parties agreed on the transfer of the bodies of 6,000 dead servicemen.
“We handed over a list of several hundred children who were deported to Russia. If Russia is committed to the peace process, the return of at least half of the children from the list would be a positive signal.” – said the Minister of Defense.
Umerov also reported that Ukraine offered to organize a meeting between the leaders of the states with the participation of a third party. US President Donald Trump is among the possible mediators.
“We have offered the Russian side to hold a meeting by the end of this month from June 20 to 30. We have been telling Russia for a long time that this war must end and the whole world supports us. If Russia is serious about ending the war, it will move in this direction. If not, sanctions must be introduced.” Umerov concluded.
