Oncoming traffic: the third round of negotiations between Russia and Ukraine has ended

On Wednesday evening, July 23, the third round of negotiations between Russia and Ukraine on a peaceful settlement took place in Istanbul. The meeting of the delegations took place after the meeting of their leaders, Vladimir Medinsky and Rustem Umerov. What is known about the first results of the dialogue is in the Izvestia material.

What was said at the end of the negotiations

The talks between the Russian and Ukrainian delegations at the Chiragan Palace in Istanbul lasted just under an hour. They were preceded by a meeting of the heads of the negotiating groups Vladimir Medinsky and Rustem Umerov, which was held with the participation of Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan.

At a press conference following the meeting, Medinsky stated the following.

• All the humanitarian agreements reached following the results of the second round of negotiations have been fulfilled. The second, unprecedented large prisoner exchange has been completed.

• Russia has proposed to form three working groups: on political, humanitarian and military issues. They will work online. Kiev will consider this proposal.

• Russia has offered to exchange at least 1,200 more prisoners of war from each side.

• Indefinite sanitary exchanges for the seriously wounded and sick on the line of operations will continue.

• The Russian side again proposed to consider the possibility of declaring short truces on the line of contact, for 24-48 hours, in order to pick up the dead and wounded.

• The Russian Federation returned to Ukraine more than 7 thousand bodies of Ukrainian Armed Forces soldiers and received a small number of its own. At the same time, Kiev was also asked to pick up another 3,000 bodies of Ukrainian servicemen.

• Not all residents of the Kursk region, who were "evacuated" by the Ukrainian Armed Forces to the territory of Ukraine, were returned home. There are about 30 of them. The reason why civilians are being held in Ukraine is not clear.

• The delegations discussed the previously submitted versions of the memorandum for a long time, the positions of the parties are quite far from each other. At the same time, Moscow and Kiev will continue contacts on this issue.

• Russia has completed work on the list of Ukrainian children, which was handed over during the last round of negotiations. Ukrainian children in Russia are under state control, in prosperity and safety in appropriate children's institutions. The Commissioners for Human Rights and Children's Rights in Russia are working on a list of Ukrainian children allegedly staying on Russian territory. Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Galuzin also said that the Russian Federation had asked Ukraine to return Russian children who had been taken to Ukraine. The Ukrainian delegation was given a list of Russian children in Ukraine and in the EU countries.

• A possible meeting between Vladimir Putin and Vladimir Zelensky should be deeply prepared and should "put an end" — Moscow has brought this position to Kiev. To organize negotiations between the two leaders, it is necessary to work out the terms of the agreement and understand what to discuss at this meeting.

In turn, the head of the Ukrainian delegation, Rustem Umerov, said that during the talks, issues of a cease-fire, the release of prisoners and the organization of a meeting of leaders "to find a just peace" were discussed. Regarding the prisoner of war exchange process, Umerov said that Kiev expects further progress. In addition, he reiterated that the main priority is to organize a meeting at the leadership level, adding that the participation of the presidents of the United States and Turkey, Donald Trump and Recep Erdogan, would be "extremely valuable."

What is known about the negotiations in Istanbul on July 23: the positions of the parties

During the negotiations, it was planned to discuss draft memoranda, which were exchanged following the results of the second round. As Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov explained on Wednesday morning, the conversation was expected to be difficult, since the positions of the parties on the documents are diametrically opposed.

At the same time, the presidential press secretary noted, the discussion of the memorandum with Ukraine is part of the preparation for a possible meeting between Vladimir Putin and Vladimir Zelensky, but it is impractical to talk about specific dates without first working out the details.

Among other issues, it was planned to discuss mutual exchanges of prisoners of war.

In turn, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky (his term of office expired in May 2024) stated that the Kiev delegation would insist on an immediate cease-fire and recalled the partial blackout in the Sumy region last week.

Zelensky had previously stated the need to achieve a ceasefire, but the Russian position, which was voiced by President Vladimir Putin, implies not the suspension of hostilities, but the development of a set of measures to effectively move towards peace.

The composition of the Russian and Ukrainian delegations at the talks in Istanbul on July 23

The composition of the Russian group in negotiations with Ukraine has not changed. According to the Izvestia source, the delegation was headed by Vladimir Medinsky, Assistant to the President of the Russian Federation, and the negotiating group, as before, included four main participants and four experts.

The composition of the Russian delegation at the last round of talks with Kiev was as follows: Presidential Aide Vladimir Medinsky, Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Galuzin, Chief of the Main Intelligence Directorate of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces Igor Kostyukov and Deputy Defense Minister Alexander Fomin.

At the same time, Zelensky earlier that day expanded the composition of the Ukrainian delegation for negotiations with the Russian Federation from 12 to 14 people. The intrigue was around who would lead the delegation, as the head of the Ministry of Defense, Rustem Umerov, who had previously served in this function, left the post.

Structural changes: Ukraine is waiting for changes in the government

Most of the ministers will be dismissed on July 16.

According to Zelensky's document, Umerov remained at the head of the delegation, this time as secretary of the National Security and Defense Council (NSDC).

A representative of the Verkhovna Rada Commissioner for Human Rights in the security and Defense sector, Yuri Kolbasa, and Deputy Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Yevgeny Ostryansky, also arrived from Kiev for talks. And instead of the head of the International and Operational Law Department of the Central Legal Directorate of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Alexei Malovetsky, his deputy Andrei Fomin was appointed.

The results of the first two rounds of negotiations in Istanbul in 2025

In 2025, Russia and Ukraine held two meetings, on May 16 and June 2, at which they agreed on the largest exchanges of prisoners of war during their military operations and on the transfer of the bodies of the dead.

At the June talks, the Russian and Ukrainian sides presented their draft memoranda with proposals for a ceasefire and further peaceful settlement.

On July 14, a month after the second round of negotiations, US President Donald Trump threatened to impose import duties of approximately 100% on Russia and its trading partners if an agreement on a settlement of the Ukrainian conflict was not reached within 50 days.

In Russia, they replied that Moscow would take into account the ultimatum of the US president, but would proceed from national interests. This was stated to Izvestia by the head of the Federation Council Committee on International Affairs, Grigory Karasin. And Dmitry Peskov said that it makes no sense to "count on breakthroughs from the category of miracles" in the upcoming round of negotiations.