The third round of negotiations between Russia and Ukraine on resolving the conflict has concluded in Istanbul, Turkey. The meeting lasted approximately 40 minutes, and on Wednesday evening, the heads of the Russian and Ukrainian delegations addressed the press with statements.
Russia did not change the composition of its delegation, which remained the same as in the first two rounds. The negotiating team consisted of four people led by presidential aide Vladimir Medinsky, with four more people joining the expert group.
The Ukrainian delegation is still headed by Rustem Umerov, who a week ago left his post as defence minister and was appointed secretary of the National Security and Defence Council (NSDC); the delegation includes representatives of the Foreign Ministry, the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU), the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) and intelligence services.
Moscow’s proposals
The head of the Russian delegation Medinsky, outlined Moscow’s proposal.
“First, to save taxpayers’ time and money, we will form three working groups within our delegations that will work online,” he told reporters. “There will be a working group on political issues, a working group on humanitarian issues and a working group on military issues, composed of relevant specialists from the military departments.”
Another proposal is to declare short, 24-48 hour ceasefires on the line of contact “so that medical teams can pick up the wounded and commanders can collect the bodies of their fighters.” Medinsky explained this proposal by saying that “right now, in the so-called grey zone, because of the danger of constant FPV drone attacks, medical teams are taking too much risk when evacuating the wounded.”
According to the head of the Russian delegation, the talks also discussed the return of civilians, including 30 people from the Kursk region who are “being held by Ukraine.” The sides continue to exchange the bodies of dead soldiers — according to Medinsky, Moscow has returned 7,000 bodies to Kyiv, received “a small number of its own” and is ready to hand over another 3,000 bodies.
What Kyiv said about the talks
The head of the delegation, Rustem Umerov, and a member of the delegation, Foreign Ministry representative George Tikhy, reported on the results from the Ukrainian side.
According to Umerov, Kyiv proposed to Moscow to hold a meeting between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Russian President Vladimir Putin by the end of August, with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and US President Donald Trump also in attendance.
“Why are we insisting on a meeting? There is one person in Russia who makes decisions. If important decisions need to be made, such as a ceasefire, that person must be present,” Tikhy said, noting that the proposal for a meeting is permanent and can be implemented at any time.
Kyiv also stated that it is ready to cease fire, including strikes on critical and civilian infrastructure, and expects the same from Moscow. In addition, the parties agreed to continue the exchange of people who have been held captive for more than three years. According to Umerov, this involves the exchange of 1,200 people.
Priorities before the meeting
The parties’ priorities remain different. Ukraine insists on agreeing first on a comprehensive ceasefire. As Zelensky said on July 23, at the talks in Turkey, he will “insist on the need for an immediate and complete ceasefire.”
In addition, Kyiv called for a meeting between Zelensky and Vladimir Putin.
Moscow said it was aware of the calls for a summit, but was going into the third round with a different priority. Presidential press secretary Dmitry Peskov told reporters that the discussions would focus on the memoranda exchanged by the parties on June 2 in Istanbul and the continuation of humanitarian exchanges.
