Kyiv, 18 Nov: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has said that he will visit Turkey on Wednesday to “revive” peace talks and discuss further prisoner swaps with Russia.
Earlier this year, the three rounds of negotiations held in Istanbul between Russia and Ukraine failed to reach any agreement. Moscow has rejected ceasefire proposals and continues to bombard Ukrainian cities relentlessly. Zelensky announced via social media that he has developed a proposal to revive the talks and will present it to partners.
He also stated that the POW (Prisoners of War) exchange process is ongoing. Previously, an agreement between Russian and Ukrainian delegations was reached in Istanbul between May and July to exchange prisoners and return the bodies of deceased soldiers.
The last prisoner exchange took place in early October, during which both Moscow and Kyiv exchanged 185 prisoners each. There has been no immediate response from Russia to Zelensky’s statement. Last week, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said that Russia is “open to the negotiation process” to end the war in Ukraine. However, Russia has not yet made public any specific plans or response.
Earlier, amid increasing Russian aggression and widespread corruption scandals, Zelensky was on a European tour seeking support for the Ukrainian army and the country’s damaged energy infrastructure. He is scheduled to meet Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez on Tuesday. Prior to that, he signed an agreement with France that will provide Kyiv with 100 fighter jets, drones, and other equipment.
US President Trump has made several attempts to negotiate a ceasefire and peace talks with Russian President Putin, but they have not yet reached a conclusion. Although Trump and Putin have met and held discussions, the war has not stopped because Putin has demanded that all the Ukrainian territories he has captured must be handed over to Russia. News RSS/ AFP
