The delegations of Russia and Ukraine ended in less than an hour their meeting in Istanbul on Wednesday (23), scheduled to try to reach a negotiated end for the war, the Ukrainian state television said.
“The main result: exchange not only with military personnel [presos]but also from civilians, ”an official source told Russian state news agency Tass, confirming that the round of negotiations, which lasted less than 40 minutes, ended and will not be continued.
The source reported that a decision on the next meeting will be made when the agreements reached are fulfilled.
TASS reported that Ukraine National Security and Defense Council Secretary Rustem Umarov met Russian presidential advisor Vladimir Medinsky after previous Ankara meetings between the Ukraine delegation and Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan. An official statement has not yet been released.
Both Kiev and Moscow said before the meeting that they did not expect great results from the meeting.
“There is no reason to expect any kind of miraculous advance,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitri Peskov said the day before. “This is unlikely in current circumstances.”
The Ukrainian side emphasized that their priorities were more exchanges of prisoners and the return of Ukrainian children in Russian territory.
Before Wednesday’s meeting, Russian and Ukrainian representatives held negotiations on May 16 and June 2 in Istanbul, who led to the exchange of thousands of prisoners of war.
United States President Donald Trump said last week that he will apply 100% tariffs on imported products from Russia and secondary at the same level to nations that buy from Vladimir Putin if an agreement is not reached to interrupt the war with Ukraine within 50 days.
