![\"Both](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/2_Turkey-Russia-Ukraine-War-25136429535226.jpg\")
Both sides agreed to provide each other with detailed ceasefire proposals(Image: AP)<\/p>\nKyiv and Moscow did manage to agree to exchange 1,000 prisoners of war each, according to the heads of both delegations, in what would be their biggest such swapBoth sides agreed to provide each other with detailed ceasefire proposals(Image: AP)<\/p>\n
The first direct Russia-Ukraine peace talks<\/a> since the early weeks of Moscow\u2019s 2022 invasion<\/a> ended after less than two hours on Friday. They were unable to agree on a ceasefire deal, but they came to terms on an exchange of prisoners.<\/p>\n In a rare late-night TV address last Sunday, Vladimir Putin<\/a> said Russia<\/a> was proposing direct talks with Ukraine<\/a> in Istanbul in an attempt to “eliminate the root causes of the conflict” and “to achieve the restoration of a long-term, lasting peace”. Referring to failed talks shortly after the Russian invasion of 2022 he continued: “It was not Russia that broke off negotiations in 2022. It was Kyiv. Nevertheless, we are proposing that Kyiv resume direct negotiations without any preconditions.”<\/p>\n During the brief meeting the Russian team was headed by Vladimir Medinsky, a senior aide to President Vladimir Putin. Ukrainian Defence Minister Rustem Umerov represented Kyiv and attending as a mediator was Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan.<\/p>\n READ MORE: Woman suffers miscarriage after sick paramedic secretly gave her abortion drug<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n The two sides sat opposite each other at a U-shaped table in the Dolmabahce Palace but remained far apart in their conditions for ending the war. Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan opened the talks by urging participants \u201cto take advantage of this opportunity,\u201d adding it was \u201ccritically important that the ceasefire happens as soon as possible.\u201d<\/p>\n One such condition for Ukraine, is a temporary ceasefire as a first step toward a peaceful settlement. The Kremlin has pushed back against such a truce, which remains elusive. \u201cWe haven\u2019t received a Russian \u2018yes\u2019 on this basic point,\u201d Ukrainian Foreign Ministry spokesman Heorhii Tykhii said after the talks. \u201cIf you want to have serious negotiations, you have to have guns silenced.\u201d<\/p>\n But Russian delegation head Vladimir Medinsky pronounced himself \u201csatisfied with the outcome,\u201d adding that Moscow was ready to continue contacts.<\/p>\n Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he discussed the talks with U.S. President Donald Trump<\/a> and the leaders of France, Germany, the U.K. and Poland. In a post on X from a European leadership meeting in Albania<\/a>, he urged \u201ctough sanctions\u201d against Moscow if it rejects \u201ca full and unconditional ceasefire and an end to killings.\u201d<\/p>\n Kyiv and Moscow did however agree to exchange 1,000 prisoners of war each, according to the heads of both delegations, in what would be their biggest such swap. Both sides also discussed a ceasefire and a meeting between their heads of state, according to chief Ukrainian delegate, Defense Minister Rustem Umerov.<\/p>\n Medinsky, an aide to President Vladimir Putin, said both sides agreed to provide each other with detailed ceasefire proposals, with Ukraine requesting the heads of state meeting, which Russia took under consideration. Serhii Kyslytsia, Ukraine\u2019s first deputy foreign minister said: \u201cThe pressure on the Russian Federation must continue. We should not really relax at this point.\u201d<\/p>\n The two sides have wide gaps remaining between them, and further complications are expected ahead of the next round of talks.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Kyiv and Moscow did manage to agree to exchange 1,000 prisoners of war each, according to the heads…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":108049,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7654],"tags":[32,2000,299,657,333],"class_list":{"0":"post-108048","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-ukraine","8":"tag-donald-trump","9":"tag-eu","10":"tag-europe","11":"tag-ukraine","12":"tag-vladimir-putin"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114521180009968417","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/108048","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=108048"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/108048\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/108049"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=108048"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=108048"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=108048"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"Russian](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/0_Turkey-Russia-Ukraine-25136430795499.jpg\")
Russian presidential aide, Vladimir Medinsky, right, and other members of Russian delegation attend talks with Ukrainian delegation at the Dolmabache palace(Image: AP)<\/p>\n