Erdogan on the talks in Istanbul: It was a wonderful meeting
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan considers the second round of talks between Russia and Ukraine to be successful and hopes to organize a meeting between President Volodymyr Zelensky and Russian dictator Vladimir Putin in Turkey, CNN Turkish reports .
Erdogan made the statement after a meeting of the Turkish Cabinet of Ministers.
"Today, a meeting of Russian-Ukrainian delegations was held in Istanbul under the chairmanship of Hakan Bey. It was a truly wonderful meeting," he said.
The success of the negotiations, in his opinion, is evidenced by the agreement on the exchange of prisoners and the bodies of dead soldiers.
"If earlier there was an exchange of 1,000 prisoners, this time the number exceeded 1,000. The issue of returning bodies from both the Russian and Ukrainian sides was also discussed. These numbers are truly huge," he said.
The Turkish President expressed his desire to organize a meeting between Zelensky and Putin and involve US President Donald Trump in it.
"My greatest desire is to bring Putin and Mr. Zelensky together in Istanbul or Ankara. In fact, I would like to unite with Mr. Trump if he agrees. We will take steps in this direction after the last meeting," he said.
Erdogan added that during a meeting with a Ukrainian delegation led by Zelensky in Ankara on May 15, Turkey confirmed its "principled policy of ending the Russian-Ukrainian war with a just peace."
- The new Istanbul talks lasted a little over an hour , during which Ukraine and Russia agreed to hold a new exchange of prisoners and bodies of the dead .
- Moscow also finally handed over to Kyiv the promised "memorandum" – a vision for ending the war. Ukraine provided the Russian Federation with such a document in advance . The parties will study each other's memoranda for a week .
- Head of the OP Yermak reported that during the meeting in Istanbul , Ukraine handed over to Russia a list of illegally deported Ukrainian children who need to be returned .
- At the talks in Istanbul, Russia refused an unconditional ceasefire despite Ukraine's proposal, Kyslytsia reported.
