Ukraine and Russia agree another prisoner exchange, but no ceasefire

The Russian and Ukrainian delegations wrapped up a second set of talks at Istanbul's Çırağan Palace on Monday, agreeing on a limited prisoner-of-war exchange and the repatriation of fallen soldiers, but leaving core political and security questions unresolved.

Türkiye's Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said the session lasted a little over an hour and centered mainly on confidence-building and humanitarian measures. 

Both sides endorsed a plan to swap "all seriously wounded POWs and prisoners under the age of 25" and to return approximately 6,000 bodies of troops killed in action.   

Ukrainian negotiators reiterated Kyiv's call for a universal 30-day ceasefire across air, land and sea, while Moscow offered a shorter pause confined to specific front-line sectors for the recovery of casualties.

"We have proposed a specific ceasefire for two to three days in certain areas of the front line," top negotiator Vladimir Medinsky said, adding this was needed to collect bodies of dead soldiers from the battlefield. 

Urged on by U.S. President Donald Trump, Moscow and Kyiv have opened direct negotiations for the first time since the early weeks of the start of the conflict in February 2022.

Diverging political positions persist

The Russian delegation handed over a 12-page "peace memorandum" restating its long-standing demands, including recognition of Russian sovereignty over territories it currently controls. 

Kyiv rejected those terms as "incompatible with Ukraine's territorial integrity," Ukrainian Defence Minister Rustem Umerov said.  

Despite the gulf, both parties tentatively agreed to convene a third round of talks before the end of June. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has not ruled out a leaders' summit that could involve Trump "should meaningful progress be within reach." 

As talks concluded, Zelenskyy said any deal must not "reward" Russian leader Vladimir Putin.

"The key to lasting peace is clear, the aggressor must not receive any reward for war. Putin must get nothing that would justify his aggression," Zelenskyy said at a in Vilnius, Lithuania at a NATO summit.

Context of renewed hostilities

The Istanbul meeting came less than 24 hours after Ukrainian drone strikes damaged more than 40 long-range Russian bombers stationed deep inside Russian territory - an operation that Moscow condemned as a "provocation" but said would not derail negotiations.  

Russian artillery and missile fire continued along several sections of the 1,200-kilometer front line on Monday morning, underscoring the fragile security environment in which the talks are taking place.

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, who proposed Istanbul as a neutral venue, said Ankara would "spare no effort" to narrow differences. Turkish officials disclosed that both delegations presented draft texts outlining end-state visions for post-war security guarantees, economic reconstruction and the status of occupied territories. 

Erdogan also proposed hosting a meeting between Zelenskyy, Putin and Trump.

What's next for peace talks?

Working groups on prisoner exchanges and humanitarian corridors are expected to meet later this week, while political advisers prepare for the anticipated late-June ministerial-level session.

In a joint statement released after Monday's meeting, both sides pledged to "continue discussions in good faith" and thanked Türkiye for its mediation. However, observers caution that the path to a comprehensive ceasefire remains steep as long as fundamental disagreements over territory and sovereignty persist.

Analysts note that even incremental humanitarian agreements, if implemented, could help build trust for broader talks-particularly if military activity on the ground is tempered in the coming weeks. 

For now, the limited outcomes underscore both the urgency and the complexity of forging lasting peace more than three years into the conflict.