In Istanbul, negotiators of Ukraine and Russia had advised on Monday. Although they agreed a more comprehensive prisoner exchange, they could not agree on a ceasefire. According to a U.S. foreign ministry spokesman, a US representative had not participated in the talks.
The Ukrainian President Selenskyj then asked Trump to “push” Russia to a ceasefire. He expects Trump’s “strong steps”, the Ukrainian head of state told journalists on Monday. Washington should “push the Russians into a ceasefire with strong sanctions”. Selenskyj only described a proposal for Russia about a two- to three-day ceasefire as a “short break”. He accused Moscow of a “game of rhetoric”.
The round of negotiations started in the Bosphorus metropolis early Monday afternoon (local time). The talks in which Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan conveyed ended after around an hour. According to a statement by the Turkish Foreign Ministry, the talks ended “without a negative result”, afterwards members of both delegations commented on the results.
Both sides had agreed on the exchange of all prisoners of war between the ages of 18 and 25, all seriously wounded or seriously ill prisoners and 6,000 corn of Ukrainian and Russian soldiers, said Ukrainian Defense Minister and chief negotiator Rustem Umerow.
The Russian negotiator Vladimir Medinski confirmed the agreement on the exchange of the remains of soldiers, but only put the number on “at least 1000” on both sides. However, he stated that many corpses are in the care of Ukraine.
Russia, on the other hand, rejected an unconditional ceasefire that Ukraine had proposed. Chief negotiator Medinski said the Russian side proposed a fire break “for two to three days” on certain front sections. This would enable commanders on both sides to recover their corpses.
The Ukrainian presidential advisor Andrij Jermak said that Kiev sent Moscow a list of several hundred children who kidnapped Russia or stated in Russian -occupied areas in Ukraine during the talks in Istanbul.
Defense Minister Umerow continued that Ukraine had proposed Russia a next discussion of the discussion by the end of June. This should “take place between June 20 and 30”, added Umerow. The further discussions were “central to promoting the negotiation process”.
After the discussion round, Turkish President Erdogan again proposed a summit with the Russian President Putin, the Ukrainian head of state Selenskyj and US President Trump. It is his “great wish” that Putin and Selenskyj meet in Ankara or Istanbul, said Erdogan. If the discussion actually takes place, he will also take part in making a “center of peace” out of Istanbul.
