Defence Minister Rustem Umerov, who headed the Ukrainian delegation to Istanbul, reported at a briefing on the results of the meeting with the Russians. The main agreement was a new prisoner exchange.
A few days ago, Ukraine handed over its vision of a ceasefire to Russia. Russia handed over its document only today.
"Only during today's discussions did the Russians hand over their document. Our teams will have a week to study the documents, after which we will be able to coordinate further steps," he said.
In the issue of prisoner exchange, it was decided not to focus on numbers, but to concentrate on specific categories. This is an exchange of all seriously wounded and seriously ill prisoners of war. The second category - young soldiers aged 18-25 - is also an all-for-all exchange. And we agreed to exchange several thousand bodies.
Russia also received a list of hundreds of Ukrainian children deported to its territory.
‘The return of at least half of the children on this list would be a positive signal,’ he said.
Kyiv insists on the release of all prisoners and the return of abducted children.
Regarding the meeting between Putin and Zelenskyy, Umerov said that it could take place with the participation of a third party, including the US president.
Ukraine proposes that Russia hold the next meeting this month, on 20-30 June.
"It is extremely important to make progress in the negotiation process. We have been telling Russia for a long time: This war must end. And the whole world supports us. We call for real work," he said.
If Russia does not move towards peace, international sanctions should be applied.
First Deputy Foreign Minister Serhiy Kyslytsya said that at a meeting with the Russians, Ukraine asked whether there would be any response to the document with Ukrainian demands handed over to Moscow. There was no response.
Kyiv will comment on the Russian document only after reading it.
"We have raised the level to get concrete humanitarian results. Our experts will continue to do so. I would also like to note that the Russian side refuses to accept an unconditional ceasefire," Kyslytsya said, adding that experts will continue to consider this.
He recalled that at the meeting in May, Russia was against the presence of the US delegation. Kyslytsya said this was sad and that both the US and Europe should be involved to ensure a long-term security architecture.
Vadym Skibitskyy, a representative of the Defence Intelligence of Ukraine, said that the talks agreed on two categories of all-for-all exchanges, and agreed on the mechanism and timing of the exchange.
‘We need to do a lot of verification, identify all categories, not to lose anyone, not to forget,’ he said.
Foreign Ministry spokesman Tykhyy said he did not know whether Russia had raised the issue of yesterday's SBU operation Spider's Web at the meeting.
Regarding the Ukrainian president's readiness to meet with Putin, Tykhyy said that Zelenskyy was ready to do so even tomorrow.