Third round of direct Russia-Ukraine talks in Istanbul agrees a new prisoner exchange but no ceasefire
Confirmedon an admission by the acting party plus an independent origin: 1 distinct origin, 1 tied to no party.
Delegations led by Ukraine's security council secretary Rustem Umerov and Kremlin aide Vladimir Medinsky met in Istanbul on 23 July for under an hour. Both sides said they agreed a humanitarian exchange of at least 1,200 prisoners each, and Medinsky said Russia would hand over 3,000 more soldiers' bodies. Umerov proposed a leaders' meeting before the end of August and insisted on a full ceasefire; Medinsky said leaders should meet only to sign a finished settlement, proposed online working groups and repeated an offer of short front-line pauses, and said positions remained far apart. Turkey's foreign minister Hakan Fidan offered to help monitor any ceasefire.
- When
- 23 July 2025
- Where
- Istanbul, Türkiye
- What
- negotiation
- Acting party
- Government of Ukraine, Government of Russia
- Attribution
- Acknowledged by the acting party. Both delegations described the talks publicly.
- In the record
- Published 2026-10-27 21:03 UTC · revision 1 · monthly summary
Sources
- Evidence Meduza
- Corroboration The Times of Israel
History
| When | Field | From | To | Why |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026-10-27 21:03 UTC | status | null | confirmed | P1 monthly summary: researched from cited sources and graded by the one rule |
Cite or reuse
The War Record, "Third round of direct Russia-Ukraine talks in Istanbul agrees a new prisoner exchange but no ceasefire", ev-20261027-6y4y, revision 1, https://thewarrecord.com/events/ev-20261027-6y4y/