Leaders of the Ukrainian and Russian delegations, Rustem Umerov and Vladimir Medinsky, announced an agreement to exchange over 1200 prisoners of war from each side.
Sources: Rustem Umerov, Vladimir Medinsky, First Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Serhiy Kyslytsya, and spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Georgiy Tikhiy at briefings following the negotiations in Istanbul.
Umerov's quote: "First of all, our agreement and the result of this humanitarian track is more than 1200 people. These will be exchanges implemented by our colleagues. We will continue our further exchanges".
Ukrainian delegation member Serhiy Kyslytsya clarified that these exchanges specifically concern prisoners of war, whereas civilians and children "need to be returned" and are not included in the exchanges.
Medinsky's quote: "Continuing the exchanges of prisoners of war, we agreed that soon there will be an exchange of no less than 1200 prisoners from each side".
The head of the Russian delegation also stated that Russia has offered to transfer more prisoners of war to Ukraine.
"If they find our people among them, then this number will increase", he said.
Medinsky also stated that Russia proposed to Ukraine to transfer an additional 3000 bodies of fallen Ukrainian servicemen.
Moreover, he indicated that Russia suggested to Kyiv to consider short-term "ceasefires" of 24 or 48 hours to retrieve the wounded and the bodies of fighters.
Meanwhile, spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Georgiy Tikhiy shared that during the third round of negotiations "the atmosphere was somewhat different from previous meetings – there were fewer emotions, less lyrical parts, and more constructive and calm discussions".
He also emphasized that the Russian proposal regarding short ceasefire periods in certain frontline areas is not new and was mentioned in the previous meeting in Istanbul. He stressed that this cannot be called a "real ceasefire".
Tikhiy's quote: "During previous meetings over the past 3-4 months, we heard other ideas from Russia – ceasefires for Easter, for Victory Day. But this is not a genuine ceasefire.
If we are talking about humanitarian pauses in small areas of the front, we should understand that this is already happening from time to time – Ukrainian and Russian commanders at lower levels coordinate such matters to retrieve bodies, this is a short humanitarian pause.
However, this is not a ceasefire. The Russians try to sell this as a ceasefire, but in our understanding, a ceasefire means halting fire on land, at sea, and in the air. This is what we mean by complete ceasefire. Civil infrastructure and residential areas must also be safe during this. These humanitarian pauses are already happening, and they cannot be called a genuine ceasefire".
