Closed negotiations between the delegations of Ukraine and Russia were held in Istanbul: the meeting lasted about an hour

The second round of negotiations between the delegations of Ukraine and Russia was held in the Istanbul Palace. As for the first time, the Russian delegation was headed by presidential adviser Vladimir Medinsky, Ukrainian - Minister of Defense Rustem Umarov. The negotiations were held closed and lasted only about an hour, reports TASS. According to their results, the participants did not make any public statements.

The composition of the Ukrainian delegation this time has changed a bit: it did not have the head of the International and Operational Law of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Alexei Malovatsky, but the head of the General Staff Yevgeny Ostryansky, the representative of the Ombudsman of the Verkhovna Rada Yuri Kovbas and the deputy head of the legal department of the General Staff Andrei Fomin joined the negotiators. The Russian delegation remained unchanged.

Before the negotiations, the Foreign Minister of Turkey Hakan Fidan spoke. He stated that in the first round on May 16 “very important steps were taken” and expressed hope for concrete progress during the second meeting. According to him, the participants are discussing the ceasefire, the exchange of prisoners and the possibility of a personal meeting between the presidents of Russia and Ukraine.

The President of Ukraine, Oddamymir Zelensky, said that he was waiting for a report on a meeting in Istanbul from the head of the Ukrainian delegation Rustem Umarov, writes Suprilna. “In Istanbul, the parties exchanged opinions and we are preparing a new exchange of prisoners of war,” Zelensky said during a briefing at a summit in Vilnius.

The first negotiation round since 2022 was held in Istanbul on May 16. Then the parties agreed on the exchange of prisoners according to the “1000 per 1000” formula.

The initiator of the second round of negotiations was Russia. The Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov previously stated that Moscow prepared a memorandum in which it set out its position "on all aspects of reliable overcoming the root causes of the crisis." Ukraine insisted that the document be transferred in advance, and before the meeting to send its memorandum to the Russian side. The Russian document, as expected, was submitted directly in the negotiations.