Russia and Ukraine agree on 1,000-prisoner exchange — but no ceasefire

KYIV ― Talks between Russia and Ukraine in Istanbul ended with the two sides pledging to exchange 1,000 prisoners of war but fell short of an unconditional ceasefire deal.

The swap would be the largest since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

Ahead of Friday’s meeting, Ukraine pushed for a full, unconditional ceasefire for at least 30 days, an “all-for-all” exchange of POWs, and a meeting between the Ukrainian and Russian presidents — at which point real peace talks would begin in earnest as long as a ceasefire held.

“Our position — if the Russians reject a full and unconditional ceasefire and an end to killings, tough sanctions must follow,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in a post on X after talks concluded. “Pressure on Russia must be maintained until Russia is ready to end the war.”

While the delegations were speaking in Istanbul, Ukraine’s European backers — many of whom are in Albania for the European Political Community summit — held a phone call with U.S. President Donald Trump.

Later Friday, French President Emmanuel Macron said Trump planned to hold his own calls “in the next couple of hours or next couple of days” with “the Russian side to clarify what had happened [in Istanbul] and move forward.”

Trump had said Thursday that “nothing is gonna happen until Putin and I get together.”

“The Russian position is clearly unacceptable and not for the first time, and so as a result of that meeting with President Zelenskyy and the discussion with President Trump, we are now closely aligning and coordinating our responses,” British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said after the call.

“Russians in Istanbul de facto broke off negotiations and refused to cease fire,” Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk, who was also on the call, said in a statement. “Time to increase the pressure.”

But despite all the talk, more muscular sanctions have yet to be agreed.

“The Russian delegation is satisfied with the results of negotiations with the Ukrainian side,” Vladimir Medinsky, aide to Russian leader Vladimir Putin and head of the delegation, told reporters after the meeting. He added that the POW exchange would happen “soon.”

At the talks, both sides agreed to clearly define their vision of a future ceasefire, pledging that after that, talks will resume — although no deadline has been set.

The Russians also agreed to consider a Zelenskyy-Putin meeting. The Russian leader this week snubbed his Ukrainian counterpart, who flew to Turkey in hopes of face-to-face talks.

Best laid plans

The Ukraine delegation, led by Defense Minister Rustem Umerov, wanted U.S. and Turkish representatives at the meeting. They consolidated positions in advance with U.S. State Secretary Marco Rubio and Ukraine special envoy Keith Kellogg, who were also in Istanbul on Friday, and arranged for Michael Anton, Director of Policy Planning at the U.S. State Department, to attend the talks.

However, the Russian delegation at the last minute pushed for no U.S. representatives, an official familiar with negotiations told POLITICO. In the end, only Turkey was at the table as a third party.

Umerov was visibly frustrated as he left the negotiation ground.

“The Russian side has issued several unacceptable demands, but the Ukrainian side remained calm and stuck to its lines,” Ukrainian Foreign Ministry spokesman Heorhii Tykhyi said at a press briefing. “We need to see more pressure on Moscow to make them willing to make steps towards peace.”

During the negotiations, Medinsky threatened his Ukrainian counterparts, saying the Russians are ready to fight for a long time, and “the Ukrainians might lose more than just their loved ones,” an official familiar with talks told POLITICO.

Moscow had already dismissed a ceasefire. It has not signaled willingness to make any concessions to its original war goals of the total disarmament of Ukraine, surrender of territories, dropping of NATO aspirations, and reinstatement of the dominance of the Russian language, church, and culture in its society.

Clea Caulcutt contributed to this report.