Ukraine, Russia agree on humanitarian prisoner swap, ceasefire talks still uncertain Defence Minister says

Ukrainian Defence Minister Rustem Umerov announced that the latest round of talks between Ukrainian and Russian delegations in Istanbul led to a limited agreement on the regular exchange of specific categories of prisoners of war.

However, he noted that Moscow has yet to respond to Kyiv’s broader proposals regarding a ceasefire and an end to the war, Caliber.Az reports per Ukrainian media.

Speaking at a press briefing following the meeting, Umerov—who led the Ukrainian delegation—stated that the session marked the first time Ukraine had formally received Russia’s proposals for a ceasefire. Nonetheless, he expressed disappointment that the Russian side failed to address Kyiv’s own proposals submitted earlier.

“Our teams will have a week to study the documents, after which we will be able to coordinate further steps,” Umerov said.

On the issue of prisoners of war, the minister said both sides agreed to shift the focus from numerical exchanges to specific humanitarian categories. “We have agreed on an ‘all for all’ exchange of severely wounded and seriously ill prisoners of war. The second category is young soldiers aged between 18 and 25—again, ‘all for all’,” Umerov detailed. “We have also agreed on the return of ‘6,000 by 6,000’ bodies of deceased soldiers.”

In addition, Umerov confirmed that Ukraine had submitted a list of several hundred children it claims were illegally deported to Russia. He emphasized that Kyiv is now awaiting concrete steps from Moscow to facilitate their return.

Another key agenda item was the potential organisation of a high-level summit between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Russian President Vladimir Putin. “We believe that further work between the delegations makes sense if it is aimed at preparing a leaders' meeting,” Umerov noted. “We proposed to the Russian side to hold a leaders' meeting before the end of this month—from 20 to 30 June. This is very important for the negotiation process.”

The Istanbul meeting, which lasted just over an hour, was the second formal engagement between the two delegations since May 16. While no major breakthroughs were achieved, the discussions mark a cautious step toward renewed diplomatic engagement in the ongoing conflict.

By Vafa Guliyeva