Ukraine and Russia far apart in direct conversations, but swap prisoners agreed

For more than three years, in the most deadly war in Europe since 1945, there was a small step forward on Friday for diplomacy.

Delegations from Ukraine and Russia came face to face for the first time since March 2022-one month after the full-scale invasion of Moscow of his neighbor. The situation was the palace of the Ottoman era on the shores of the Bosphorus in Istanbul.

Pressure and encouragement from Turkey and the United States helped to get warring parties there.

There were no handshake, and half of the Ukrainian delegation wore camouflage war fatigue – a reminder that their nation was attacked.

The room was flooring with Ukrainian, Turkish and Russian flags – two of each – and a large color arrangement – a world, far from the destroyed cities and swollen cemeteries of Ukraine.

Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan told the delegations that two paths are coming – one time leading to peace and the other leading to more death and destruction.

The conversations lasted less than two hours and sharp divisions soon appeared. The Kremlin made “new and unacceptable demands,” according to a Ukrainian employee. This included Kiev’s insistence on withdrawing his troops from large parts of his own territory, he said in exchange for the cessation of fire.

Although there was no breakthrough on the decisive truce issue – as expected – there is news of a tangible result.

Each country will return 1,000 prisoners of war to the other.

“It was the very good end of a very difficult day,” said Ukraine’s Deputy Foreign Minister Sergius Kislia and “potentially excellent news for 1000 Ukrainian families.”

The size will be held soon, said the Minister of Defense of Ukraine Rustm Musrov, who heads his country’s delegation. “We know the date,” he said, “we still don’t announce it.”

He said the “next step” should be a meeting between Zelenski and Putin.

This request is “noted” according to the head of the Russian delegation, Vladimir Medinsky – presidential assistant.

He said the Russian delegation was pleased with the conversations and was ready to continue contacts.

It was a change from Thursday when the Russian Foreign Ministry called President Zelenski “clown and loser”.

But there are concerns – among Ukraine and some of its allies – that Russia is engaged in diplomacy, just to buy time, to be distracted by international pressure to end fire and to try to give up the 18th round of European sanctions. The EU says they are already in the process of work.

And while the two sides are now sitting around the table, President Trump has said that the only conversations that count will be those between him and President Putin.

He announced on Thursday, in the middle of the Air Force One flight that “nothing will happen while Putin and I get together.”

It is unclear when this meeting will be. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov says the highest level negotiations are “certainly needed”, but preparing a summit will take time.

Every time these conversations happen, President Zelenski is unlikely to be invited.