Ukraine, Russia still far apart after peace talks but agree prisoner swap

Qatar Tribune

4 days ago

Agencies
Istanbul
A second round of peace talks between Russia and Ukraine have ended without a major breakthrough, and only an agreement between the warring sides to swap more prisoners of war.
The Ukrainian negotiators said Russia again rejected an 'unconditional ceasefire' - a key demand by Kiev and its allies in Europe and the US.
The Russian team said it had proposed a two-to-three day truce 'in certain areas' of the vast front line, but gave no further details.
At Monday's talks, which were held in the Turkish city of Istanbul and lasted just over an hour, the two sides did agree to exchange all sick and heavy wounded prisoners of war, as well those aged under 25.
Expectations were low even before the talks started, with both sides remaining deeply divided on how to end the war that has been raging since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
Moscow currently controls about 20% of Ukrainian territory, including the southern Crimea peninsula, which it annexed in 2014.
Speaking at a briefing after the meeting, Ukrainian Defence Minister Rustem Umerov, who led Kiev's negotiating team, said Ukraine was insisting on a 'full and and unconditional ceasefire' for at least 30 days to 'end the killings now'.
He said Ukraine had handed over its truce proposals to Russia 'a few days ago' - but Moscow failed to do the same, only presenting its plan at the Istanbul talks.
Ukrainian Deputy Foreign Minister Serhiy Kyslytsia then said that Russia rejected the unconditional ceasefire.
Ukraine's negotiators said they were expecting Russia's response to Ukrainian proposals by the end of June, stressing on the need to prepare for direct talks between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Russia's Vladimir Putin.
Speaking shortly afterwards at a separate news briefing, Russian delegation head Vladimir Medinsky confirmed that all sick and heavily wounded prisoners of war and those younger than 25 would be exchanged. No timeframe was given as to when this would happen.
Medinsky also said that next week, Russia would hand over to Kiev the bodies of 6,000 Ukrainian soldiers.
In the first round of direct peace talks, held on May 16, Ukraine and Russia failed to bridge their differences on how to end the war, agreeing only to swap 1,000 prisoners of war each.
President Zelensky and his European allies have repeatedly accused Russia of deliberately delaying any meaningful negotiations to seize more Ukrainian territory.
US President Donald Trump, who has been pushing for a quick settlement, has so far delayed hitting Russia with tough sanctions.
In a rare rebuke last month, Trump called Putin 'absolutely crazy' following Russia's largest drone and missile attacks on Ukraine. In response, the Kremlin said Trump was showing signs of 'emotional overload'.