Russia and Ukraine have completed the third round of negotiations in Istanbul. The head of the Russian delegation, Vladimir Medinsky, spoke about a number of Russian proposals. One of them is the creation of groups on humanitarian, political and military issues that will work online. He also announced a proposal to hold short truces to take the wounded and dead from the battlefield. In addition, Medinsky answered a question about the meeting between Moscow and Kiev at the highest level. According to him, it is necessary to work out the terms of the agreement for her.
The Russian delegation made a number of proposals to the Ukrainian side following the talks in Istanbul. This was stated by the head of the Russian delegation, Vladimir Medinsky.
Negotiations between Russia and Ukraine took place on July 23 at the Chiragan Palace in Istanbul. According to the source, the heads of the Russian and Ukrainian delegations, Vladimir Medinsky and Rustem Umerov, had previously held a one-on-one meeting.
At the same time, at these negotiations, almost the entire Ukrainian delegation was in suits, only one person remained in military uniform. In June, several members of the Ukrainian delegation were in military uniform.
During the third round of negotiations, Russia proposed the creation of online working groups to address a number of issues.
“What have we offered the Ukrainian side this time? To save taxpayers’ time and money, we will form three working groups in our delegation that will work online,” Medinsky said.
According to him, we are talking about groups on humanitarian, political, and military issues, consisting of specialists from military departments.
Another Russian proposal is to exchange at least 1.2 thousand prisoners of war from each side.
Against this background, the Russian Defense Ministry announced the completion of the prisoner exchange in accordance with the agreements reached on June 2.
Another Russian proposal is to consider the issue of short, 24- and 48-hour truces, which are needed to pick up the wounded and dead fighters.
Russia also offered to transfer another 3,000 bodies of dead Ukrainian servicemen to Ukraine, Medinsky said.
At the same time, Moscow has already returned to Kiev more than 7 thousand bodies of dead soldiers of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
Another issue that was discussed during the negotiations was the residents of the Kursk region held by Ukraine. At the same time, Russia is ready to exchange them for captured military and other categories of persons.
Medinsky expressed his bewilderment why Ukraine does not return civilians.
“If you have taken civilians out from under fire, then return them home. And if you took them hostage, like Hamas did at the time, the first ones who came to hand, then let’s call them hostages and treat them accordingly,” Medinsky said.
Medinsky also touched upon the issue of Ukrainian children residing in Russia.
“As for the tens of thousands of children allegedly deported from Ukraine. The entire list of 339 Ukrainian children has been fully worked out by us, for each name and surname, some of the children have already been returned to Ukraine. Work is underway on the rest. If their legal parents, close relatives, or representatives are present, these children will immediately return home. For us, children are sacred,” Medinsky said.
At the same time, 50 names from the list of Ukrainian children allegedly located in Russia are adults, Medinsky noted, and most of the Ukrainian list have never been to Russia.
During the press conference, Medinsky was asked about the summit meeting between Russia and Ukraine. According to the head of the Russian delegation, for such a meeting it is necessary to work out the terms of the settlement agreement.
“In order for such a meeting to take place, it is necessary to work out the terms of the agreement in advance and understand what to discuss at this meeting. But in fact, at this meeting it is necessary not to discuss the agreement, but to put an end to it, to sign, you know? As we say, “The end is the crown,” Medinsky said.
He also provided a historical background for NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte. Earlier, he expressed dissatisfaction with the fact that the Russian delegation to the Istanbul talks was headed by a “historian.”
“There was a civil war in China between Communists and nationalists. Chiang Kai-shek and Mao Zedong. Chiang Kai-shek insisted all the time that we should meet in person and agree on everything. In my opinion, as a result, we met five times, took pictures, and smiled, but this did not lead to the end of the civil war, because the basic issues and basic contradictions were not resolved. The war continued,” Medinsky said, recalling that the nationalists eventually lost, despite massive Western military assistance.
Medinsky noted that the positions of the two countries in the memoranda are far from each other. He expressed the hope that this would be discussed not only at the level of delegations, but also promptly at the level of working groups.
When asked about the possibility of holding a fourth round of negotiations, Medinsky said:
“We hope that it will be.”
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