Afghanistan, July 24 -- Russia and Ukraine discussed prisoner swaps in Istanbul talks, but no ceasefire progress was made; Ukraine demands return of deported children.
On Wednesday, Russia and Ukraine held a brief 40-minute peace talk session in Istanbul, focusing mainly on expanding prisoner exchanges. However, significant disagreements remained on ceasefire conditions and a potential leaders' summit.
According to Reuters, Ukraine's top negotiator, Rustem Umerov, stated, "We made progress on humanitarian issues, but none on ending hostilities." He added that Ukraine had proposed a meeting between Presidents Zelensky and Putin before the end of August to demonstrate Russia's constructive intent.
Russian chief negotiator Vladimir Medinsky...