Presidential meeting, exchanges of prisoners and bodies, return of children: Medinsky named the main topics of the talks in Istanbul

Vladimir Medinsky, assistant to the President of Russia and head of the Russian delegation at the Istanbul talks, summarized the outcomes of the negotiations with Ukrainian representatives in Turkey.

Here are the main points from Medinsky’s briefing with journalists:

• Russia proposed forming three working groups with Ukraine that would operate online to address political, humanitarian, and military issues. Ukraine has agreed to consider this proposal.

• Russia suggested declaring short-term ceasefires on the front line to collect the dead and wounded. These ceasefires could last 24 to 48 hours.

• A new exchange of at least 1,200 prisoners of war is expected to take place soon. Additionally, Russia has offered to hand over 3,000 bodies of deceased Ukrainian soldiers, and is awaiting Kyiv’s consent. The two sides also agreed to continue “indefinite medical exchanges” involving severely wounded individuals.

• The positions of Ukraine and Russia on the draft peace memorandums remain far apart, but Moscow hopes to maintain ongoing contact.

• Ukraine handed Moscow a list of 339 children who had been taken to Russia. Some of these children have already been returned to Ukraine, while others are awaiting the appearance of their legal guardians. In some cases, the individuals are no longer minors, and others were found not in Russia, but in Europe.

• Regarding a possible meeting between Presidents Vladimir Putin and Volodymyr Zelensky, Medinsky stated that such a summit could only take place after the conditions of a peace agreement have been worked out. The presidents, he said, should “put the final signature” on an agreement — not start the negotiation process from scratch.

Previously, Ukraine had said that organizing a direct meeting between Zelensky and Putin was the main goal of its delegation in Istanbul.