The head of the Russian delegation at the talks in Istanbul Vladimir Medinsky, accused Ukraine of postponing the prisoner exchange “indefinitely”. Ukraine denies this.
According to Medinsky, quoted by Russian state propaganda media, the first 1 212 bodies of dead Ukrainian soldiers have allegedly already arrived in the exchange area. And Russia has allegedly handed over a list of 640 prisoners of war to Ukraine to begin the exchange.
The Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War emphasized that Russia has handed over completely different lists to Ukraine for exchange, which do not correspond to the agreements reached at the negotiations in Istanbul. This is an exchange in the format of "all for all" by categories: seriously wounded and seriously ill, young people from 18 to 25 years old.
If Ukraine has submitted lists for exchange in certain categories, then Russia has not. So Kyiv has sent comments, and the next step is expected from Moscow.
An agreement was also reached in Istanbul on the repatriation of the fallen — a total of 6 000 bodies of dead soldiers are to be returned home. But the date of the exchange was not agreed upon. So Russia, instead of agreeing with the Ukrainian side, resorted to unilateral measures.
"Instead of constructive dialogue, we are once again faced with manipulation and attempts to use sensitive humanitarian topics for informational purposes. We are interested in a real result — in the return of our prisoners and the bodies of the dead, and are ready to work further for this within the agreed framework," the Coordination Headquarters emphasized.
Against this background, the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine stated that Russia is trying to "overplay" the agreements already reached.
"We call on the Russian side not to create artificial obstacles and false statements so as not to return Ukrainian prisoners and not to take their prisoners to Russia," the department said.
The Ministry of Defense added that the agreements reached must be implemented exactly as discussed in Istanbul and during technical consultations. And if Russia reneges on what it promised, this "once again raises questions about the level and capabilities of the Russian negotiating team," the department believes.
- The second round of talks between Ukraine and Russia concluded in Istanbul on June 2. The parties decided to focus on exchanges in the "all-for-all" format by categories: seriously wounded and seriously ill, young people from 18 to 25 years old. They also agreed to exchange 6 thousand bodies of dead soldiers.
- The first direct negotiations between Kyiv and Moscow took place on May 16. After that, there was a prisoner exchange in the format of "1000 for 1000".
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