Over 1,200 POWs to Be Exchanged Following Talks in Istanbul
The heads of the Ukrainian and Russian delegations in Istanbul, Rustem Umerov and Vladimir Medinsky, announced a new agreement to exchange over 1,200 prisoners of war on each side, The Gaze reports, citing Ukrainian Pravda.
“First and foremost, our agreement and the outcome of this humanitarian track is more than 1,200 people. These will be exchanges carried out by our respective colleagues. And we will continue our future exchanges,” Umerov said.
Ukrainian delegate Sergiy Kyslytsya clarified that the agreement refers specifically to the return of military prisoners of war. “Civilians and children must be returned — they are not part of these exchanges,” he emphasized.
“Continuing the exchange of prisoners of war, we have agreed that in the near future, an exchange of at least 1,200 POWs from each side will take place,” Medinsky said. “If they find more of our people, the number will be even higher.”
Medinsky also claimed that Russia had offered to return the remains of an additional 3,000 fallen Ukrainian servicemen. He further stated that Moscow proposed that Ukraine consider short-term ceasefires lasting 24 or 48 hours to allow for the recovery of the wounded and the bodies of soldiers.
“If we’re talking about humanitarian pauses on small sections of the front, we need to understand that this already happens from time to time — Ukrainian and Russian commanders at the lower level coordinate such actions to retrieve bodies. This is a short humanitarian pause,” Ukrainian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Heorhii Tykhyi added.
“But it is not a ceasefire. The Russians are trying to sell it as one, but in our understanding, a real ceasefire means no hostilities on land, sea, or in the air. That’s what we consider a full ceasefire,” he concluded.
As The Gaze previously reported, the tone of the latest round of Ukraine-Russia negotiations in Istanbul was notably different from previous meetings, with more focus and less emotion, according to Ukrainian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Heorhii Tykhyi.