Latest news with #UkrainianOfficial
Bloomberg
03-06-2025
- General
- Bloomberg
Russia and Ukraine Agree on New Prisoner Swap But Fail to Reach Truce
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.
CBS News
23-05-2025
- Politics
- CBS News
Trump says large Russia-Ukraine prisoner swap "could lead to something big"
Washington — President Trump said Friday that Russia and Ukraine had carried out a large exchange of prisoners from their more than three-year war, while a Ukrainian official said the swap was ongoing but not yet complete. Moscow did not immediately confirm the exchange was underway but it appeared to be one of the few signs of any progress in international efforts to halt the fighting. "A major prisoners swap was just completed between Russia and Ukraine," Mr. Trump said on his Truth Social platform. He said it would "go into effect shortly," although it was not clear what that meant. A senior Ukrainian official familiar with the details of the swap told The Associated Press that the exchange was ongoing Friday morning but had not finished. He spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak publicly. Both Russian and Ukrainian media outlets reported in recent days that a swap was agreed for about 1,000 prisoners to be handed over by each side but no specifics were confirmed by either government on Friday. Shamsail Saraliev, a senior Russian lawmaker and representative of the parliamentary coordination group on military operations, told the country's RBC news agency on Thursday that it would be difficult to conduct a prisoner exchange with Ukraine involving as many as 2,000 prisoners in total in just one day, saying the process would likely be carried out over several days. "This could lead to something big???" Mr. Trump said in his post on Friday, apparently referring to international diplomatic efforts to stop the fighting. White House and National Security Council officials did not immediately respond to requests for further details. A woman reacts as she visits the grave of her relative, a Ukrainian soldier, as Ukrainians mark the national Day of Heroes, amid Russia's ongoing invasion of Ukraine, at the Lychakiv cemetery in Lviv, Ukraine, May 23, 2025. Pavlo Palamarchuk/REUTERS Speaking Friday at the Kremlin, spokesman Dmitry Peskov said there had been "no decisions or agreements yet on the next venue for negotiations between Russia and Ukraine." The ongoing exchange was agreed last week in the first direct Russia-Ukraine peace talks since the early weeks of Moscow's 2022 invasion of its neighbor. That meeting in Turkey lasted just two hours and brought no breakthrough in international diplomatic efforts to stop the fighting. Still, the fact that the two sides had even sat down face-to-face on May 15 was a significant development in itself, even though Russian President Vladimir Putin declined to accept his Ukrainian counterpart, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's, challenge to show up for the negotiations in person. Several days later, Mr. Trump held a two-hour phone call with Putin, the tone and spirit of which he described as "excellent." He said Russia and Ukraine would "immediately start negotiations toward a ceasefire," and he then held a separate call with Zelenskyy. Mr. Trump said repeatedly before taking office for his second term that he could bring the Russia-Ukraine war to an end within 24 hours.
Washington Post
23-05-2025
- Politics
- Washington Post
Ukrainian official says major prisoner swap with Russia is underway
WASHINGTON — An exchange of prisoners between Russia and Ukraine from their more than three-year war was underway Friday, a senior Ukrainian official said. The swap had not yet finished, according to the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak publicly. Moscow did not immediately confirm the exchange was underway.
Yahoo
17-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Russia demanded Kyiv pull back troops before ceasefire, Ukrainian source says
By Tom Balmforth ISTANBUL (Reuters) -Russian negotiators at peace talks in Istanbul demanded Ukraine pull its troops out of all the Ukrainian regions claimed by Moscow before they would agree to a ceasefire, a senior Ukrainian official familiar with the talks told Reuters. The Kremlin declined to comment on the terms that Russia had put forward at Friday's meeting in Turkey - the first time the warring sides had held face-to-face talks since March 2022, weeks after Russia's full-scale invasion. The talks lasted only one hour and 40 minutes, and yielded an agreement to trade 1,000 prisoners of war on each side. The two countries have not specified when that will happen. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy called on Saturday for stronger sanctions on Moscow after a Russian drone killed nine bus passengers in the Sumy region of northeastern Ukraine. "This was a deliberate killing of civilians," he said. "Pressure must be exerted on Russia to stop the killings. Without tougher sanctions, without stronger pressure, Russia will not seek real diplomacy." Russia, which denies targeting civilians, said it struck a military target in Sumy. Its defence ministry said Russian troops had captured another settlement in eastern Ukraine. Ukraine and Western governments, including the U.S., have demanded that Russia agree to an immediate, unconditional ceasefire lasting at least 30 days. But the Ukrainian source said Moscow's negotiators had demanded the withdrawal of Ukrainian troops from the Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia, Kherson and Luhansk regions of Ukraine, with a ceasefire to take place only after that. The source said that and other demands went beyond the terms of a draft peace deal that the United States proposed last month after consultations with Moscow. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov declined to comment on the Ukrainian account, saying talks should be conducted "absolutely behind closed doors". He said the next steps would be to carry out the prisoner exchange and conduct further work between the two sides. Peskov said it was possible that President Vladimir Putin could meet Zelenskiy, but only if "certain agreements" were reached, which he did not specify. Zelenskiy had challenged Putin earlier in the week to meet him in person, an offer the Russian leader ignored. Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said his country, after hosting the talks, was determined to continue its mediation role. PRESSURE FROM TRUMP Both Ukraine and Russia are under pressure from U.S. President Donald Trump to end what he calls "this stupid war". He has threatened to abandon U.S. efforts to broker an agreement unless they demonstrate clear progress. After Friday's meeting, Ukraine began rallying support from its allies to take tougher action against Moscow. British Foreign Secretary David Lammy told Reuters: "Yet again we are seeing obfuscation on the Russian side and unwillingness to get serious about the enduring peace that is now required in Ukraine." "Once again Russia is not serious," he said during a visit to Pakistan. "At what point do we say to Putin enough is enough?" French President Emmanuel Macron also said the talks in Istanbul had been fruitless. "Today, what do we have? Nothing. And so I tell you, faced with President Putin's cynicism, I am sure that President Trump, mindful of the credibility of the United States, will react." European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said the EU was working on a new package of sanctions against Moscow, which France said this week should aim to "suffocate" the Russian economy. But after ratcheting up sanctions for more than three years already, it is unclear how much more they can achieve. In their efforts to forge a united front and make Putin accept a ceasefire, Ukrainian and its European leaders have been repeatedly thrown off balance by interventions from Trump. Having publicly told Zelenskiy to accept Russia's offer of direct talks in Turkey, Trump declared on the eve of the meeting that there could be no movement on peace until he had met with Putin. The Kremlin says Putin is ready to meet Trump, but such a summit must be carefully prepared in order to get results. It said there been no contact between Russia and the U.S. since Friday's talks. (Additional reporting by Charlotte Greenfield in Islamabad, Pavel Polityuk and Christian Lowe in Kyiv, Dmitry Antonov in Moscow, Jonathan Spicer and Ezgi Erkoyun in Istanbul; writing by Mark Trevelyan; editing by Philippa Fletcher)
Reuters
17-05-2025
- Politics
- Reuters
Russia demanded Ukraine cede more territory at Turkey talks, Ukrainian source says
ISTANBUL, May 17 (Reuters) - Russian negotiators at peace talks in Istanbul demanded Ukraine pull its troops out of all the Ukrainian regions claimed by Moscow before they would agree to a ceasefire, a senior Ukrainian official familiar with the talks told Reuters. That demand, along with others the Ukrainian official said were made at Friday's talks, went beyond the terms of a draft peace deal that the United States proposed last month after consultations with Moscow. The talks in Istanbul, the first direct contacts between the two sides in three years, ended with agreement for a prisoner exchange but failed to agree to a ceasefire. A Ukrainian source had said on Friday the Russians had made conditions he described as "non-starters", without giving details. At a briefing with reporters on Saturday, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov was asked about the terms that, according to the Ukrainian official, Moscow put forward, but he declined to comment, saying the discussions need to take place behind closed doors. The Ukrainian official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to reveal details of the talks, said Russian proposed the following terms for a peace deal: * The withdrawal of Ukrainian troops from the Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia, Kherson and Luhansk regions of Ukraine, only after which there can be a ceasefire. The regions are largely or partially controlled by Russian forces, but Ukrainian troops are still fighting to hold on to the remaining parts of the regions. There was no such demand in the draft deal prepared by the United States. * International recognition that five parts of Ukraine -- the Crimea peninsula annexed in 2014, as well as the Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions -- are Russian. The U.S. draft had proposed only U.S. de jure recognition for Crimea, and U.S. de facto recognition for Russian-controlled parts of the other regions. * Ukraine becomes a neutral state, has no weapons of mass destruction, and Kyiv's allies will not station any of their troops on Ukrainian soil. This demand was absent from the U.S. proposal. * All sides in the conflict renounce their claims to receive compensation for war damages. The U.S. proposal had stipulated that Ukraine receives compensation. According to the Ukrainian official, Russian negotiators transmitted those demands verbally, and did not share any document containing their terms. Ukraine has already said the Russian negotiating position in Istanbul showed it was not serious about peace. Kyiv's European allies are now pressing U.S. President Donald Trump to impose new sanctions on Russia. The head of the Russian delegation at the talks expressed satisfaction with the meeting, and said Moscow was willing to keep talking to Kyiv. The U.S. draft peace proposal from April was prepared after Trump envoy Steve Witkoff flew to Moscow for rounds of talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Kyiv and European allies drafted an alternative proposal, which stated there should be a ceasefire first so negotiations could start, and deferred any discussion of territory until later.
