Third round of Russia-Ukraine peace talks wraps up: As it happened
The third round of Russia-Ukraine peace talks in Istanbul has ended. The delegations met at the Ciragan Palace on the European side of the Bosporus.
The talks follow two rounds of direct negotiations held in Istanbul earlier this year. The negotiations have focused primarily on various humanitarian issues, including the exchange of the remains of fallen soldiers and prisoner swaps. The two sides have also exchanged draft memorandums outlining their vision of a peace settlement.
The Russian delegation is headed by presidential aide Vladimir Medinsky, who led the previous negotiations with Ukraine. Kiev has also fielded the same team as before, which is headed by now-former Defense Minister Rustem Umerov, who was appointed head of the country’s Security Council during a major government reshuffle last week.
The new round of negotiations is expected to “mainly focus on issues related to those draft memorandums that were exchanged during the second round, and also a discussion on the continuation of a very important process of mutual [POW] exchanges,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said earlier in the day, cautioning against making any predictions.
“It’s hardly possible to talk about this now. We need to see how it goes,” Peskov told reporters. “No one expects an easy path. Naturally, this will be a very difficult conversation. The draft proposals are diametrically opposed.”
This live feed has ended.
- 19:40 GMT
Russia has reviewed the list of some 339 displaced Ukrainian children previously provided by Kiev, Medinsky has said. Some of the children have already returned, while many on the list have never been in Russia, he said. At least 50 individuals on Kiev’s list turned out to be “quite adult,” the top negotiator noted, adding that Moscow remains committed to returning the children it had evacuated from the war zone.
“If their parents, relatives, or legal representatives are found, they will return home. Children are sacred to us,” he stressed.
- 19:38 GMT
RT’s Konstantin Pridybaylo asked Medinsky whether Russia is ready to consider exchanging the remains of World War II soldiers recently exhumed by Lviv Mayor Andrey Sadovy. The Ukrainian official had suggested the remains could potentially serve as a bargaining chip in negotiations with Russia.
“Even the Ukrainian side did not offer to consider that matter seriously; they themselves, probably, are ashamed of the actions of their halfwit Gauleiter, who has been digging graves,” Medinsky stated, mockingly referring to the Lviv mayor by a term that denoted a district leader under the Nazis.
- 19:21 GMT
Asked about the prospects of a meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky, Medinsky said it was too early to talk about the matter. Such a meeting would require an ironed-out peace deal and would only finalize the agreement rather than be a stage for discussions, Russia’s chief negotiator stressed.
- 19:20 GMT
Moscow and Kiev have successfully concluded the major prisoner swap agreed to during the previous round of Istanbul talks, Medinsky said. The final batch of some 250 servicemen were exchanged amid the new round of talks, the top negotiator revealed.
- 19:14 GMT
While the humanitarian obligations undertaken by the two sides during the previous round of negotiations have been largely fulfilled, Ukraine still holds captive a number of Russian civilians seized during the invasion of Kursk Region, Medinsky said. He likened Kiev’s action to the hostage-taking by Hamas and urged Kiev to clarify the legal status of the captives.
- 19:06 GMT
Moscow has proposed to Kiev that temporary truces of up to 24 hours on the front line be held to allow both sides to evacuate their wounded, as well as gather the bodies of fallen soldiers, according to Medinsky.
- 19:02 GMT
Russia has offered to hand over an additional 3,000 fallen Ukrainian soldiers to Kiev, Medinsky said.
- 19:02 GMT
Moscow proposed establishing three working groups to work online in order to “save time and taxpayers’ money,” Medinsky told reporters. The proposed groups would be focused on political, military, and humanitarian issues, he added.
- 18:32 GMT
The talks between the two delegations have concluded, multiple Russian media outlets have reported, citing sources. According to a TASS source, the negotiations were conducted in the Russian language. The meeting involving the two teams lasted for about 40 minutes.
