By Vladimir Soldatkin and Andrew Osborn
ISTANBUL (Reuters) – Russia said on Friday that the first direct talks with Ukraine in more than three years had yielded a deal to swap 1,000 prisoners of war each soon and to resume talks after each side had set out its vision for a future ceasefire.
In a short statement shown live on Russian state TV after the negotiations in Istanbul had wrapped up, Vladimir Medinsky, the head of Russia’s delegation, said that Moscow was satisfied with progress made and was ready to keep talking to Kyiv.
“In general, we are satisfied with the result and are ready to continue contacts. In the coming days, there will be a massive thousand-for-thousand prisoner exchange,” said Medinsky.
That would be one of the largest exchanges of its kind since Russian President Vladimir Putin sent tens of thousands of troops into Ukraine in 2022 in what he called a special military operation.
“The Ukrainian side requested direct talks between the leaders of our states. We have taken note of this request,” Medinsky added.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy had challenged Putin to fly to Turkey for direct talks with him on Thursday, but Putin – who had proposed the talks in the first place but had not said who was going for Russia – sent a mid-level delegation of experienced negotiators instead.
In the event, the talks took place on Friday, not Thursday.
U.S. President Donald Trump, who has tried to pressure both sides to move towards a peace settlement, has said he wants a 30-day ceasefire in an attempt to end Europe’s deadliest conflict since World War Two.
Kyiv, which is on the defensive on the battlefield, has agreed to a 30-day ceasefire.
But Russia – which is slowly but steadily advancing on the battlefield and is worried that Ukraine will use such a pause to regroup and re-arm – has said it needs to nail down the terms of a ceasefire before signing up to one.
Medinsky said Russia and Ukraine had agreed to go away and set out in detail and in writing their vision for what a future ceasefire would look like.
“After such a vision has been presented, we believe it would be appropriate, as also agreed, to continue our negotiations,” he said.
In an interview with state TV released after his statement, Medinsky said that history showed that ceasefires did not always precede peace talks and that negotiations had been held throughout the Korean and Vietnam wars while fighting raged.
“As a rule, as Napoleon said, war and negotiations are always conducted at the same time,” said Medinsky.
The Kremlin said earlier on Friday that a meeting between Putin and Trump was essential to make progress on Ukraine and other issues, but needed considerable preparation and had to yield results when it happened.
The Russian and U.S. presidents have spoken by phone, but not met since Trump returned to the White House in January, despite both leaders expressing their desire for face-to-face talks.
(Reporting by Vladimir Soldatkin in Istanbul; Additional reporting by Maxim Rodionov, Anton Kolodazhnyy, Anastasia Teterevleva, Darya Korsunskaya and the Moscow bureau; Writing by Andrew Osborn; Editing by Frances Kerry)
