Ukraine and Russia agree to exchange 1,000 POWs and indicate future direct talks on the cards

LAST UPDATE | 17 hrs ago

IN THE FIRST direct talks between Ukraine and Russia since 2022, the two sides have agreed to exchange 1,000 prisoners of war and indicated there may be future negotiations between presidents Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Vladimir Putin.

The negotiations, which took place in Turkey today, got off to an inauspicious start after Russia sent a relatively low-level delegation yesterday. 

Russian President Vladimir Putin did not show up, nor did his foreign minister Sergei Lavrov, while Zelenskyy and his foreign minister did. Zelenskyy left Turkey yesterday.

Both sides traded insults prior to today’s talks, with Lavrov calling Zelenskyy a “clown” and a “loser”. Zelenskyy accused Russia of not taking the talks seriously and sending a “dummy” delegation.

But the noises coming out of today’s discussions appear to be mostly positive. 

“Overall, we are satisfied with the results and ready to continue contacts,” Russia’s lead negotiator Vladimir Medinsky said.

“In the coming days, there will be a large-scale exchange of prisoners, 1,000 for 1,000,” he said.

“The Ukrainian side has requested direct talks between the heads of state. We have taken note of this request… We have agreed that each side will present its vision of a possible future ceasefire,” he added.

Ukraine’s top negotiator, Defence Minister Rustem Umerov, confirmed the swap in a separate statement and said a ceasefire and a possible Zelensky-Putin meeting had been discussed.

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“Ukraine is ready for peace and a long-term and unconditional ceasefire,” Zelenskyy’s top aid Andriy Yermak saidearlier today. 

Following the conclusion of today’s negotiations in Istanbul, Zelenskyy and the leaders of France, Germany, Britain and Poland held a phone call with US President Donald Trump.

“President Zelenskyy, President Macron, Chancellor Merz, PM Starmer and PM Tusk had a phone conversation with Donald Trump,” Sergiy Nykyforov said in a message to reporters.

So far, there has been no report of the substance of that call, but yesterday US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who expressed pessimism about the prospects of today’s low-level talks, said that there would likely be no major progress until Trump talked directly with Putin.

“Contacts between presidents Putin and Trump are extremely important in the context of the Ukrainian settlement,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters today, adding that “a meeting is undoubtedly necessary.”

Trump had said yesterday that nothing would be settled until the two leaders met. 

Western leaders have criticised Putin for skipping the talks and sending his aide — a former cultural minister Medinsky, who is not seen as a key Kremlin decision-maker.

Rubio acknowledged that the Russian representation was “not at the levels we had hoped it would be at”.

Russia’s Medinsky led the failed 2022 talks with Ukraine at the start of the war.

With reporting from © AFP 2025

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