Ukraine, Russia Reach New Prisoner Swap Deal But Talks Achieve Little Else

Exchange to focus on severely wounded and the young; meeting lasts barely an hour

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ISTANBUL - A second round of peace talks between Russia and Ukraine ended barely an hour after they began in Istanbul on June 2, Turkish officials said, a day after a massive Ukrainian drone attack on Russia's nuclear-capable strategic bombers.

Although the atmosphere was subdued and the dialogue brief, the talks did yield an agreement to conduct a new prisoner exchange, and Ukraine said another round of talks was on the agenda.

Ukrainian Defence Minister Rustem Umerov told reporters after the talks that both sides agreed to an exchange of prisoners that would focus on swapping the severely wounded and the young.

Mr Umerov, who was Ukraine's lead negotiator at the talks, said the remains of dead soldiers would also be repatriated as part of the exchange.

But Russia "continued to reject" an unconditional ceasefire with Ukraine, Mr Sergiy Kyslytsya, who was part of Ukraine's negotiating team, said.

Ukraine proposed to hold a next round of talks with Russia before the end of June.

"We propose to the Russian side to hold a meeting by the end of this month, from 20th to 30th of June," said Mr Umerov, adding that the delegations should try to agree on a meeting between Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky and Russia's leader Vladimir Putin.