Ukraine, Russia agree on prisoner swap in third peace talks

Ukrainian and Russian delegations held a third round of peace talks in Istanbul yesterday. The meeting, which lasted less than an hour, ended with both sides agreeing to a prisoner swap. Rustem Umerov, Secretary of Ukraine’s National Security and Defence Council, led Kyiv’s delegation, said they proposed a summit between President Volodymyr Zelensky and Russian President Vladimir Putin before the end of August. Opening the session, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan called for progress based on earlier discussions and urged the parties to end this bloody war as soon as possible. According to Umerov, Ukraine and Russia agreed to conduct a humanitarian exchange involving more than 1,200 people. Russian negotiator Vladimir Medinsky said Moscow would also return the bodies of 3,000 Ukrainian soldiers. Vladimir Medinsky, Putin’s aide and head of the Russian delegation, said Moscow proposed forming three working groups to meet online and address political, military, and humanitarian issues. Umerov’s team met Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan earlier in Ankara before heading to the talks in Istanbul. The July 23 meeting followed earlier rounds of negotiations on May 16 and June 2, after more than three years without formal talks.