Istanbul talks 'did not lead to significant progress' beyond prisoner exchange – Axios

The meeting between the delegations of Kyiv and Moscow in Istanbul lasted a little more than an hour and "didn't produce significant progress," other than the exchange of prisoners, the American news resource Axios said, citing an anonymous Ukrainian diplomatic source.

According to the interlocutor, Russian representatives demanded that in exchange for a ceasefire, the Ukrainian army withdraw troops "from several areas inside Ukraine."

"Russian demands are detached from reality and go far beyond anything that was previously discussed," the source noted.

Earlier, Sky News' interlocutor from Ukrainian diplomatic circles reported on Moscow's maximalist demands. According to him, some of these points contain Russian whims regarding "the withdrawal of Ukrainian troops from its [Ukrainian] territory to implement a ceasefire." This was not officially reported.

UPDATED. Foreign Ministry spokesman Georgiy Tykhyi confirmed that during the meeting, the Russians voiced things that were unacceptable for Ukraine. At the same time, the official noted that "the Ukrainian delegation did a great job, calmly."

• The head of the Ukrainian delegation, Umerov, reported that the parties discussed the issue of a ceasefire and a prisoner exchange in the 1,000-for-1,000 format, as well as a potential meeting between President Zelenskyy and dictator Putin.

• The aggressor country's chief negotiator, Medinsky, stated that Ukraine and Russia would "present their vision" of a possible ceasefire, "write it down in detail," and then return to further negotiations.