New negotiations that do not reveal any fire. The Russian and Ukrainian delegations discussed for more than an hour under Turkish mediation in Istanbul, this Monday, June 2, to try to find an exit to the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
As during the first session of conversations held in mid -May in the same city, the two parties agreed with an exchange of prisoners, but did not agree on a cessation of hostilities.
The fire does not agree on a high
The first Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, Serguii Kyslytsia, said that Russia rejected the kyiv offer of “high unconditional fire”, a repeated application of kyiv for several months and supported by its European allies.
For its part, the Russian delegation proposed to Ukraine a high partial fire of “2-3 days”, and only in certain sectors of the front.
“We made a fairly general proposal. A high concrete fire for two or three days in certain areas of the front,” said Russian negotiator Vladimir Medinski at a press conference after discussions.
A new exchange of planned prisoners
Russia and Ukraine agreed during the conversations to exchange all young prisoners of war or those seriously injured, as well as 6,000 bodies of soldiers killed by each camp.
“We have agreed to exchange all seriously injured and severe warfare prisoners. The second category includes young soldiers from 18 to 25 years, in the format all against all,” said Ukrainian Defense Minister and Chief Negotiator Roustem Oermerov.
“We also agreed to restore 6,000 against 6,000 bodies of soldiers that fell into the battle,” he added.
“Documents have been exchanged through the Turkish part, and we are preparing a new release of war prisoners,” Volodymyr Zelensky confirmed at a press conference in Vilnius (Lithuania).
On May 16, the first direct discussions for three years between Russians and Ukrainians had already led to an exchange of prisoners of 1,000 people in each camp.
Kyiv demands the return of kidnapped children
kyiv said he had transmitted a list of hundreds of Ukrainian children who have been “deported” to Moscow by Russia and whose repatriation is “deported” to Moscow.
“These are hundreds of children that Russia has illegally deported, moved by force or retained in the (Ukrainian) territories temporarily occupied” by Moscow, said Andriï iermak, head of the Cabinet of President Volodymyr Zelensky, in his Telegram account.
Russian negotiator Vladimir Medinski said Russia “will examine each situation,” reports the Russian agency Tass.
The deportation of Ukrainian children by Russia since the beginning of the war has earned Vladimir Putin and one of his relatives to be attacked by an arrest warrant of the International Criminal Court.
A new meeting at the end of June?
Ukraine has offered Russia a new meeting. “We propose to the Russian party to organize a meeting at the end of the month, between June 20 and 30,” said Ukraine Defense Minister Roustem Oumerov, The Press. “This is essential to advance the negotiation process,” he added.
The Turkish president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, once again proposed to the Russian presidents Vladimir Putin at the top, Volodomyr Zelensky and American Donald Trump, “in Istanbul or Ankara”, a proposal already accepted by Kyiv.
“My greatest desire (…) is to bring (Vladimir) Putin and (Volodymyr) Zelensky to Istanbul or Ankara and bring Trump to (Donald) Trump by his side. If they accept it, I will join them, to make Istanbul a peace center,” said the end of a second Russian meeting and the Ukrainian delegations on Monday.
Source: BFM TV
