Ukraine and Russia far apart on ceasefire terms at Istanbul talks
Russian and Ukrainian delegations attend talks in Istanbul on Monday. Moscow has insisted on terms that would all but hand it control of Kyiv © Ukrainian Ministry of Defense/APSimply sign up to the War in Ukraine myFT Digest -- delivered directly to your inbox.
Ukraine and Russia remain far apart on terms for a lasting ceasefire after a second round of peace talks in Istanbul on Monday where Moscow laid down stringent demands to end its three-year invasion.
After negotiations at the Çırağan Palace on the Bosphorus, Kyiv’s and Moscow’s delegations said they had agreed to swap all seriously wounded and sick prisoners, as well as prisoners of war under 25, in what Russia described as the largest such exchange during the conflict.
But the countries’ conditions for peace remained a chasm apart. Moscow insisted on terms that would all but hand it control of Kyiv, while dismissing Ukraine’s demands for an immediate ceasefire and greater US involvement in the talks.
The negotiations, which lasted for just over an hour, were the second round of talks brokered by Turkey and the US after the peace process resumed last month for the first time since early in the conflict.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said the meeting was “great” and added he would move to organise a summit involving Russia’s leader Vladimir Putin and presidents Volodymyr Zelenskyy of Ukraine and the US’s Donald Trump. Zelenskyy later on Monday said he and Erdoğan had discussed holding the possible meeting in late June or early July in Turkey.
Even if the four leaders did meet, however, Zelenskyy said it would not result in a lengthy ceasefire because Putin was not ready to end the war.
The Russian memorandum “appears to contain ultimatums rather than serious proposals”, he said.
Show video infoShow video descriptionVideo descriptionDelegations from Kyiv and Moscow met in Istanbul for the second round of talks
Delegations from Kyiv and Moscow met in Istanbul for the second round of talks © ReutersRussia offered a limited two to three-day ceasefire in a few select locations along the 1,000km frontline to recover the bodies of fallen soldiers, Zelenskyy said. But he dismissed this as a ploy to show Trump he is engaged in the peace process, calling it an attempt to ease sanctions rather than a genuine move towards peace.
Russia’s intransigence has frustrated the US president, who had bragged that he could solve the conflict on his first day in office and thought his close relationship with Putin could help broker a deal.
Instead, Russia dismissed a 22-point US peace plan and held fast to its demands, prompting Trump to suggest the US would take a back seat in the peace process after the first round of talks in May.
Zelenskyy said they had now agreed on an exchange of a thousand prisoners from each side, with a possible second swap expected this week of 200 individuals, including political prisoners and journalists.
Both sides also agreed to swap the bodies of 6,000 enemy soldiers each, Zelenskyy added.
Vladimir Medinsky, the head of Russia’s delegation, earlier said the upcoming exchange, set to involve “1,000 to 1,200” prisoners, would be the largest since the war began.
But the two delegations made little progress on any potential deal as Putin refuses to budge from his demands to cut down Ukraine’s sovereignty or accept Kyiv’s calls for a ceasefire.
The Kremlin’s demands include surrendering control of four partially occupied regions — Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia — to Russia. Moscow also wants an end to western weapons supplies and intelligence sharing with Ukraine, caps on Ukraine’s military, and a pledge for Kyiv’s neutrality.
Under Russia’s terms, Ukraine would also roll back years of efforts to wrest the country from Moscow’s orbit, including amnesty for pro-Russian figures in Ukraine and expanded rights for Russian speakers.
Moscow is also demanding international recognition of its conquests and an end to western sanctions.
Russia rejected two of Ukraine’s main proposals — the ceasefire and greater US involvement — while making limited headway on humanitarian issues.
Zelenskyy said Russia’s delegates agreed to return only 10 Ukrainian children from a list of 400 deported to Russia during the war. Medinsky accused Kyiv of inflating the numbers of abducted children and turning the issue into a “shameful show” for its European allies.
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Zelenskyy said: “They told us, ‘Don’t put on a show for sentimental old Europeans who don’t have any children themselves.’”
Monday’s talks came a day after Ukraine launched one of its most daring military operations of the war, hitting dozens of Russian aircraft at four airfields as far away from the frontline as eastern Siberia.
Those attacks themselves came just hours after Russia launched its largest drone strike on Ukraine since 2022, attacking the cities of Kyiv, Kharkiv and Zaporizhzhia with 472 unmanned aerial vehicles.
Additional reporting by Fabrice Deprez in Kyiv
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