Russia and Ukraine conclude second summit in Istanbul with new prisoner exchange
Both governments agreed to exchange prisoners and bodies of fallen soldiers, but failed to agree on a ceasefire deal that would satisfy all sides.
Russian and Ukrainian delegations arrive in Turkey.
The second summit of direct negotiations between Russia and Ukraine concluded in Istanbul. Following this second meeting between Kiev and Moscow envoys, Ukrainian authorities announced that they are preparing a new prisoner swap with Russia and that they also aim to get back hundreds of minors deported to Russia from the occupied regions.
Ukrainian sources announced at the end of the meeting that it did not end negatively, without giving many more details. However, no ceasefire agreement was reached between the two sides.
As the head of the Russian delegation sent to Istanbul confessed, Moscow proposed a partial ceasefire of "2-3 days" in some sectors of the front. "We made a rather general proposal. A concrete ceasefire for two-three days in some areas of the front," Vladimir Madinsky said during a press conference after those talks.
However, Ukraine seems to insist on the proposal for an unconditional and absolute ceasefire, which Russia rejected. "The Russian side continued to reject the unconditional ceasefire proposal," Kyslytsia told reporters after the meeting with Russian negotiators, organized under Turkish mediation.
Prisoner exchanges
"Documents were exchanged through the mediation of the Turkish side, and we prepared a new release of prisoners of war," Zelensky said during a press conference in Vilnius, Lithuania. The first round of talks between Moscow and Kiev on May 16 achieved an exchange of 1,000 prisoners per side.
Along with these prisoners, the bodies of up to 6,000 soldiers from each side killed in the fighting will also be exchanged.
Similarly, Zelensky argued Monday that Russian President Vladimir Putin should get nothing after the invasion of Ukraine.
"The key to a lasting peace is clear: the aggressor must not get any reward for the war," Zelensky told a news conference after the NATO summit in Vilnius. "Putin must not get anything that would justify his aggression."
Kiev also said Monday that it sent Moscow a list with hundreds of Ukrainian children who, according to the country's authorities, were "deported" by Russia, and demanded their repatriation.
"These are hundreds of children that Russia illegally deported, forcibly displaced or is holding in the [Ukrainian] territories temporarily occupied" by Moscow, Andrii Yermak, head of President Volodymyr Zelensky's cabinet, said on Telegram.
At Ukraine's proposal, yet another meeting is expected to take place later this month between June 20-30.
Second summit in Istanbul
Moscow and Kiev launched a first round of direct talks on May 16 in the Turkish city, but the meeting yielded few results. The two countries only committed themselves to a large-scale prisoner swap.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky stated Monday prior to the start of the meeting that his country was ready to "take the necessary steps for peace," before the start of the summit.
"Our delegation is now in Istanbul and we are ready to take necessary steps for peace. Naturally, a starting point would be a cease-fire and humanitarian actions, the release of prisoners and the return of the children kidnapped (and sent to Russia by Moscow, ndlr)," he declared from Lithuania after making a new call to sanction Russia if it brings "nothing" to this meeting in Turkey.
Summit after the "Red" operation
This new meeting takes place the day after a "large-scale" Ukrainian attack on Russian soil, which reached as far as Siberia.
A large-scale coordinated drone assault against four Russian military airfields damaged several dozen aircraft, including strategic bombers, according to the Ukrainian security services.
The Russian military announced Monday morning that it shot down 162 Ukrainian drones overnight, mostly targeting the border regions of Kursk and Belgorod. Kiev claimed that Moscow launched 80 drones against its territory.
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Turkish mediation and difficult conditions
But despite intensive diplomatic efforts by several countries, the two sides remain far from an agreement, whether a truce or a longer-term solution.
Zelensky reiterated that Ukraine's priority is "a complete and unconditional ceasefire" and the "return of prisoners" and Ukrainian children that, according to Kiev, Moscow took to its territory. In addition, the Ukrainian leader wants a direct meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin, a proposal the Kremlin has rejected several times as it questions Zelensky's legitimacy.
Russia rules out the "unconditional ceasefire" demanded by Ukraine and its Western allies, and insists that what it calls "the root causes" of the conflict must be resolved.
For Russia, this includes Ukraine renouncing membership in NATO, and ceding the five Ukrainian regions that Moscow claims it had annexed. These conditions are unacceptable to Kiev, which is demanding a full withdrawal of Russian troops from its territory and security guarantees that Moscow rejects.
Russia's chief negotiator in Istanbul is Vladimir Medinsky, Putin's ideological advisor who headed the failed 2022 negotiations and who has written articles justifying the invasion and questioning Ukraine's right to be a nation.
The Ukrainian delegation is led by Defense Minister Rustem Umerov, regarded as a pragmatic negotiator, but whose portfolio is weighed down by several scandals of abuse of power and lack of transparency.
Lavrov spoke with Rubio ahead of Monday's summit
Russian diplomatic chief Sergey Lavrov had a telephone interview with his U.S. counterpart, Marco Rubio, ahead of Monday's summit, as reported on Sunday.
"They discussed the situation in the Ukrainian crisis," the foreign ministry said in a statement.
The officials "exchanged their views on various initiatives aimed at a political settlement of the Ukrainian crisis, especially plans for the resumption of direct negotiations between Russia and Ukraine in Istanbul on June 2," the ministry said, according to Tass news agency.
This conversation comes on the same day of an unprecedented Ukrainian drone strike against Russian military aircraft. Lavrov and Rubio have had several phone conversations in recent weeks.
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