Ukrainian and Russian delegations held their first direct peace talks since the start of the war on Friday in Istanbul, reaching an agreement to carry out what would be the largest prisoner exchange of the conflict.
The hour-and-40-minute meeting, mediated by Turkey, ended with both sides confirming plans to exchange 1,000 prisoners each. Ukraine’s defense minister, Rustem Umerov, and Kremlin aide Vladimir Medinsky, who led their respective delegations, confirmed the deal in separate press briefings following the talks.
The discussions focused primarily on Ukraine’s call for a cease-fire before broader negotiations could proceed. “We agreed that each side would present its vision of a possible future cease-fire and would spell it out in detail,” Medinsky said, adding that Russia would review Ukraine’s request for a meeting between Presidents Vladimir Putin and Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
Umerov confirmed that the delegations discussed the prisoner exchange, a cease-fire, and the possibility of a presidential summit.
Zelenskyy and Macron, along with the leaders of Britain, Germany, and Poland, held a phone call with President Trump on Friday to discuss the talks, according to Zelenskyy’s press secretary Serhiy Nikiforov, who provided no further details.
Despite Ukraine’s demands, the Kremlin secured a tactical advantage by launching negotiations without first agreeing to a cease-fire—something both Kyiv and nearly all its Western partners had pushed for as a prerequisite. Both Putin and Zelenskyy appeared eager in recent days to show Washington they were answering its call for direct talks as frustration grew within the Trump administration over the stalled peace process.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitri Peskov said Moscow agreed in principle to a meeting between Russian and U.S. leaders but insisted any summit would require careful planning to be effective.
Senator Marco Rubio traveled to Istanbul on Friday and met separately with both delegations before Turkey convened the direct negotiations later in the day. Rubio departed the palace venue ahead of the talks to meet with national security officials from the UK, France, and Germany.
Alongside Medinsky, Russia’s delegation included military intelligence chief Igor Kostyukov, a deputy foreign minister, and a deputy defense minister. Ukraine’s team, led by Umerov, included first deputy foreign minister Sergiy Kyslytsya and senior Ukrainian intelligence officials.
