Russia and Ukraine have agreed to each swap 1,000 prisoners of war during short peace talks in Turkey on Friday that lasted less than two hours.
The swap would be the countries’ biggest since the war began. Both heads of the Russian and Ukrainian delegations also said the two sides agreed to provide each other with ceasefire proposals and a meeting by their heads of state, The Associated Press reported.
A senior Ukrainian official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told the AP that Russia introduced new “unacceptable demands” to withdraw Ukrainian forces from huge swaths of territory during the talks.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who was at the peace talks in Istanbul, said Thursday, “We don’t have high expectations of what will happen” at the Russia-Ukraine talks. He added that he believed a meeting between President Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin is the only way a breakthrough would be possible, which Trump also said Thursday.
“Look, nothing’s gonna happen until Putin and I get together, okay?” Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One on Thursday while heading to the United Arab Emirates.
