Russia and Ukraine agree on new prisoner swap but fail to reach truce

Miami Herald

2 days ago

Russia and Ukraine wrapped up a second round of talks in Istanbul that failed to bring the two sides closer to ending the war, but laid the groundwork for a new exchange of prisoners.
The Russian delegation handed over peace proposals that include Kyiv surrendering control of territory it still holds in four partially occupied regions, a Ukrainian official said.
Kyiv demanded an unconditional truce, said Ukrainian Defense Minister Rustem Umerov, the country's chief negotiator. Russia in turn proposed a ceasefire for two-to-three days along certain parts of the front to allow the evacuation of war dead, the head of the Russian delegation, presidential aide Vladimir Medinsky, said. Moscow also presented a two-part memorandum with conditions for a permanent ceasefire and peace agreement, he said.
The two ex-Soviet neighbors agreed to prepare for a new exchange of all heavily wounded POWs, young soldiers under 25 years of age as well as 6,000 bodies. Ukraine also suggested another meeting later this month.
The latest direct peace talks in Istanbul lasted only about an hour and came a day after Kyiv staged one of its boldest aerial attacks inside Russia, destroying long-range bombers and other aircraft. The previous round in mid-May in the Turkish commercial capital ended after nearly two hours with no progress except for a prisoner swap. Monday's meeting marks only the second time the two warring sides have held public negotiations since the early days of the conflict.
Prospects for peace remain distant despite months of high-profile efforts by U.S. President Donald Trump, who has grown increasingly frustrated with the lack of progress. Moscow has so far resisted a U.S. proposal for a 30-day ceasefire and has laid out maximalist demands to end its invasion, now in its fourth year. While Trump has threatened to impose more sanctions on Russia, he's held off on taking that step.
Ukraine submitted to Russia during Monday's talks a list of abducted children whose return the country is seeking, a top aide to Zelenskyy, Andriy Yermak, said on Telegram.
"If Russia undermines even this initial agenda, and if the Istanbul meeting brings nothing, that clearly means strong, new sanctions are urgently, urgently needed," Zelenskyy said during a summit in Vilnius on Monday.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, speaking after the talks concluded, suggested holding a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin, Zelenskyy and Trump in either Istanbul or Ankara.
Two members of the Ukrainian delegation met with representatives from the U.K., Germany and Italy ahead of the negotiations with Russia, the Foreign Ministry in Kyiv said on Monday.
The Ukrainian leader on Sunday revealed details of an attack that utilized drones hidden in trucks to hit strategic airfields.
Ukraine used 117 drones with people operating inside Russia across three time zones, he said on the X social media platform, adding that about a third of the strategic cruise missile carriers at the airfields were hit.
Russia acknowledged that a few aircraft were damaged, compared with Kyiv's claim that more than 40 planes were hit. Pro-Moscow military blogger Rybar, which has about 1.3 million Telegram subscribers, estimated that 13 aircraft were damaged, most of them long-range bombers.
Some of Russia's more advanced weapons are dependent on foreign components, such as cruise missiles, Tu-22 bombers, submarines and anti-aircraft radar, which means replacing the lost planes will be very difficult because of sanctions.
Also on Sunday, Moscow launched one of its longest drone and missile attacks against Kyiv with air sirens lasting for more than nine hours, escalating tensions ahead of the peace talks.
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-With assistance from Aliaksandr Kudrytski, Ugur Yilmaz and Firat Kozok.
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