Senior Ukrainian official arrives in Istanbul to negotiate resumption of prisoner exchanges with Russia

By Elena Teslova

MOSCOW (AA) - Ukrainian National Security and Defense Council Secretary Rustem Umerov, who heads the Ukrainian delegation for direct talks with Russia, arrived in Istanbul, Türkiye on Tuesday.

In a statement on Telegram, Umerov named the resumption of war prisoner exchanges with Russia as the purpose of his visit.

"These days, I will be working in Türkiye and the Middle East to unblock the exchange process. There was an agreement, and we need to implement it," he said.

According to Umerov, meetings are scheduled in Türkiye to discuss the resumption of exchanges. He did not specify who exactly would participate in the meetings.

At the last or third round of direct talks in Istanbul, which took place on July 23, Russia and Ukraine agreed on the exchange of prisoners of war and civilians.

In addition, Moscow has proposed to Kyiv to form three groups that will work online on political, humanitarian and military issues. Later, the Kremlin said that Moscow had not received a response from Kyiv to this proposal.

Apart from Türkiye, the United Arab Emirates and partly Saudi Arabia and Qatar mediated humanitarian exchanges between Russia and Ukraine.