Russia and Ukraine hold direct peace talks for first time since war began as prisoner swap agreed
by Jacob Paul · LBCBy Jacob Paul
Ukrainian and Russian officials have come face to face for the first direct peace talks in three years, agreeing on a prisoner swap deal.
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A large-scale prisoner swap has already been agreed and is set to take place with Ukraine "in coming days", with "1,000 for 1,000", prisoners of war set to be swapped, the head of Russia's delegation Vladimir Medinsky said.
"We have agreed that each side will present its vision of a possible future ceasefire," he added.
Ukrainian Defence Minister Rustem Umerov said 1,000 prisoners will be exchanged.
"That’s the result of our meeting,” he said, adding that "all modalities" of a ceasefire were discussed.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said ahead of talks his delegation in Turkey will push for an immediate cease fire.
The Kremlin said on Thursday their focus is on long term peace and eliminating the "root causes of this crisis".
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said Yesterday Putin is not going to attend peace talks in the Turkey - as Volodymyr Zelenskyy touched down in the country.
A breakthrough is considered unlikely after Putin refused to turn up for talks on Thursday, sending a low-level delegation instead.
US President Donald Trump said this week a peace deal isn’t going to happen until he and Putin “get together” after the Russian president shunned direct negotiations Mr Zelenskyy in Turkey.
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“I don’t believe anything’s going to happen, whether you like it or not, until he and I get together,” the US president told reporters aboard Air Force One before landing in Abu Dhabi.
“If something happened I would go on Friday if it was appropriate,” he said. “We have people right now negotiating, I just hope Russia and Ukraine are able to do something. It has to stop.”
However, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio is in the room for today's talks in Istanbul.
Speaking ahead of the meeting, he said repeated the US's position that "the killing needs to stop".
Meanwhile, President Zelensky and other European leaders, including Prime Minister Keir Starmer, are in Tirana, Albania, today to discuss tightening sanctions on Russia.
Sir Keir told reporters in Tirana Moscow has given “more evidence that Putin is not serious about peace” by skipping peace talks.
“He’s been dragging his heels and I think it’s really important therefore that we have absolute unity with our allies," the Prime Minister said.
He added: “We’ll be working on that again today to be clear that there must be a ceasefire, but also to be clear that should there not be a ceasefire then we will act together in relation to sanctions.”
More than 40 leaders have arrived in the Albanian capital for talks, which are expected to focus on intensifying sanctions on Russia if the Kremlin does not agree to a ceasefire, with Russian energy likely to be a target.
Moscow has so far resisted calls for an unconditional 30-day ceasefire backed by both Kyiv and Washington.
In Tirana, Nato secretary-general Mark Rutte told reporters that Ukraine would be “number one on the agenda” for the summit, adding that Mr Putin had made “a big mistake” by sending a low-level delegation to Istanbul.
He said: “Ukraine clearly wants to play ball. They are very serious about this.”