Round Two: What Russia and Ukraine Agreed On

The second round of Russia-Ukraine negotiations in Istanbul lasted just over an hour. Afterward, the heads of the Russian and Ukrainian delegations addressed the press and shared details of the meeting, Orda.kz reports.

Rustem Umerov, head of the Ukrainian delegation, stated that Kyiv proposed a meeting between Presidents Putin, Zelenskyy, and Trump at the end of June.

He confirmed that the Istanbul talks led only to agreements on exchanges.

We firmly believe that all key issues can only be resolved at the level of the leaders. And the meeting may involve the U.S. President. We believe further talks between the delegations make sense only if they aim to prepare for a presidential summit. We proposed to the Russian side to hold the meeting between June 20 and 30,
 Umerov told RBK Ukraine.

He added that both sides agreed on an exchange of severely wounded and seriously ill prisoners on an “all for all” basis.

The second category includes young soldiers aged 18 to 25 — ‘all for all.’ We also agreed to return the bodies of the dead in a ‘6000 for 6000’ format,
 Umerov said.

The head of the Russian delegation, Vladimir Medinsky, confirmed the agreements on exchanges and said the Russian side handed Ukraine a memorandum consisting of two parts.

The first part — how to achieve real long-term peace. And the second — what steps can be taken to enable a full ceasefire. In fact, the second part even offers several options,
 Medinsky told reporters.

Ukraine will review Russia’s settlement memorandum within a week and provide a response, Interfax-Ukraine reports. Russia has proposed a two-to-three-day ceasefire along specific sections of the front line to allow for the collection of fallen soldiers.

Ukraine also handed over a list of 339 children to Russia, demanding their return. Russia will review every case on the list involving children who have lost contact with their parents, Medinsky said.

The talks, which took place in Istanbul on May 16, concluded with an agreement to exchange prisoners on a “1000 for 1000” basis.

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