During the third round of negotiations in Istanbul, Ukraine and Russia agreed to exchange 1,200 prisoners of war. The Russian side proposed a ceasefire lasting between 24 and 48 hours to allow troops from both sides to collect the dead and wounded. At the same time, Kiev proposed a meeting between Volodymyr Zelensky and Vladimir Putin by the end of August.

"Continuing the exchange of prisoners of war, we agreed that at least 1,200 additional prisoners of war from both sides will be exchanged in the near future," said Vladimir Medinsky, head of the Russian delegation in Istanbul.

He added that Moscow had offered to hand over the bodies of 3,000 killed soldiers to Kiev.

The Russian side also offered Kiev a ceasefire lasting between 24 and 48 hours to allow troops from both sides to collect the dead and wounded. 

"Once again, we have proposed to the Ukrainian side to establish a short 24 to 48-hour truce along the line of conflict so that medical teams can collect the wounded and commanders can come and collect the bodies of their soldiers," Medinsky said at a press conference.

The head of the Russian delegation also said that Moscow and Kyiv's positions on ending the war are still very different.

"We discussed in detail the positions set out by our countries in the memoranda presented last time. The positions are quite different. We decided to continue contacts," Medinsky said.

At the same time, negotiators from Ukraine proposed a direct meeting between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin.

"The number one priority is to organize a meeting of the leaders, the presidents, with the participation of (US President Donald) Trump and (Turkish President Recep Tayyip) Erdogan," said Ukraine's chief negotiator Rustem Umerov. He added that Kiev had proposed that the negotiations be held by the end of August.

Before the start of today's negotiations, a source from the Ukrainian delegation said that the heads of the two delegations had held a preparatory meeting with Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan.

Fidan called on both sides to end the "bloody war" as soon as possible.

"Our goal is to end this bloody war, which has a very high price, as soon as possible. The ultimate goal is a truce that will pave the way for peace," the foreign minister said at the opening of the negotiations. | BGNES