Russia-Ukraine Talks: Prisoner Exchange Agreed upon, Ukraine Requests Putin-Zelenskyy Meeting

Both delegations met in Istanbul for their first talks since 2022.

Handout photo by Arda Kucukkaya/Turkish Foreign Ministry via Getty Images

Ukrainian and Russian delegations in Istanbul on Friday also discussed possible contacts between Presidents Volodymyr Zelensky and Vladimir Putin, Ukrainian Defense Minister Rustem Umerov said, according to Reuters.

The Russian and Ukrainian negotiators announced after their discussions that they had discussed the possibility of holding a meeting between Vladimir Putin and Volodymyr Zelensky.

The first talks between the two countries since 2022 exchanged, after several days of waiting, under the auspices of the Turkish government. After several tripartite meetings, the Ukrainians repeated their objectives: to obtain an "unconditional ceasefire" and to negotiate a meeting between Zelensky and Putin.

Meeting on Friday in Istanbul for their first peace talks for more than three years, Russians and Ukrainians discussed a ceasefire, a Zelensky-Putin meeting and concluded an exchange of 1,000 prisoners from each camp, thus making little progress towards a full resolution of the conflict.