Delegations from Russia and Ukraine convened at the historic Çırağan Palace in Turkey on Monday for their second round of direct peace talks in just over two weeks. The meeting came a day after Kyiv launched a large-scale drone strike targeting Russian airbases, and as the war – now in its third year – continues with heavy fighting along the 1,000-kilometer front line.
According to officials cited by the Associated Press, both sides agreed during the talks to exchange the bodies of 6,000 soldiers killed in action.
The Ukrainian delegation was led by Defense Minister Rustem Umerov, who confirmed after the meeting that an agreement had also been reached on a new prisoner-of-war (PoW) exchange. This exchange will prioritize severely wounded individuals and young detainees, Umerov stated in a message shared by Ukrainian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Heorhii Tykhvi.
The meeting was presided over by Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan, with officials from Turkey’s intelligence agency also in attendance.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, speaking from Vilnius, Lithuania, said both delegations had “exchanged documents through the Turkish side” and that preparations were underway for another round of PoW releases.
Despite these diplomatic gestures, officials from both countries continue to express significant disagreements over the core terms for ending the conflict. Meanwhile, intense combat persists, with both sides carrying out deep strikes into each other’s territory.
