Russia proposes ceasefire, prisoner exchange amid talks

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The second round of direct negotiations between Russia and Ukraine has concluded in Istanbul. The talks lasted for an hour.

During the negotiations, Russia presented the Ukrainian side with a two-part memorandum that included various methods to achieve a ceasefire.

Kyiv provided a list of children abducted to Russia. An agreement was reached regarding the exchange of prisoners.

The Russian side announced after the talks that Moscow will return 6,000 frozen bodies of soldiers, which will be handed over to Kyiv next week.

Vladimir Medinsky, the head of the Russian delegation and former Minister of Culture of the Russian Federation, stated that Russia and Ukraine will exchange seriously ill and wounded prisoners in an "all-for-all" format.

He indicated that Russia and Ukraine will establish medical commissions to carry out regular exchanges of severely wounded soldiers.

According to Medinsky, Russia proposed a 2–3 day ceasefire in certain areas of the front. The ceasefire is intended to allow for the removal of deceased bodies, he added.

He also stated that the Russian Federation is advancing, "therefore, there are more casualties among Ukrainian soldiers on the battlefield."

During the meeting, Ukraine provided Russia with a list of Ukrainian children being held in occupied areas. Kyiv expects their return.

Medinsky showed journalists a list with the names of 339 children supplied by Ukraine.

The head of the Russian delegation stated that the Russian Federation intends to examine each case on Ukraine’s list of children separated from their parents.

He claimed that Kyiv has turned the issue of child abductions into a "show for sensitive Europeans." Russia does not kidnap a single child, only children rescued by Russian soldiers. The Russian Federation returns children to Ukraine if their parents or legal guardians are found, he stated.

In March 2025, Kyiv stated that Russians abducted more than 700,000 children from Ukraine. If they return, they come back with trauma and altered identities. “We have all legal grounds to consider Russia's actions a war crime,” said Dmytro Lubinets, the Ombudsman for Children in Ukraine, at that time.

During a Monday press conference in Istanbul, Ukraine's Defense Minister and head of the Ukrainian delegation, Rustem Umerov, announced significant agreements made during the negotiations with Russia. The most important of these is the agreement on the exchange of prisoners and the return of the bodies of fallen soldiers. The parties agreed to the principle of "all-for-all" regarding the injured, seriously ill, and young soldiers under 25 years old. Additionally, it was decided that Ukraine and Russia will reciprocally return 6,000 fallen bodies from each side.

– We agreed on exchanges. We insist on the release of all prisoners of war and civilian hostages, emphasized Umerov. He added that, although the numbers were not precisely defined, categories of persons to be included in the exchange had been agreed upon.

The minister also noted that further negotiations with Russia only make sense if they aim for a direct meeting between President Volodymyr Zelensky and Vladimir Putin.

The Ukrainian side proposed that such a summit take place between June 20 and 30. According to the Interfax-Ukraine agency, the proposal was presented in Istanbul as part of efforts to end the conflict and restore a just peace.

Umerov emphasized that Ukraine is counting on concrete results, not symbolic gestures. He stressed that dialogue must lead to real actions, such as releasing prisoners, returning children, and providing honorable burials for the fallen.