New round of negotiations completed: Russia rejects Kiev's offer for unconditional ceasefire, proposes partial one

A new round of negotiations between the Russian and Ukrainian delegations, mediated by Turkey, in Istanbul ended today after a little over an hour, the Turkish Foreign Ministry announced.

"The meeting ended without a negative result," said Oncu Keceli, a spokesman for the Turkish ministry.

Ukrainian Defense Minister and chief Ukrainian negotiator Rustem Umerov said after the negotiations that Ukraine had proposed to Russia a new meeting, which should be held between June 20 and 30.

"We propose to the Russian side to organize a meeting by the end of the month, between June 20 and 30. This is necessary for the negotiation process to progress," Umerov said.

The two sides have agreed to exchange the bodies of 6.000 soldiers killed on the battlefield, he said. They have also agreed to exchange all prisoners who are seriously wounded or under the age of 25, he added.

Ukrainian Deputy Foreign Minister Serhiy Kyslitsia said today that Russia rejected Kiev's offer for an unconditional ceasefire during talks in Istanbul.

"The Russian side continued to reject the proposal for an unconditional ceasefire," Kislitsia said.

The Russian negotiator said that Russia had proposed to Ukraine a partial ceasefire that would last two to three days.

Erdogan again suggests Putin, Zelensky and Trump meet in Turkey

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan again proposed today that a summit between Russian President Vladimir Putin, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and US President Donald Trump be held "in Istanbul or Ankara."

"My greatest wish (...) is to bring (Vladimir) Putin and (Volodymyr) Zelensky together in Istanbul or Ankara and to bring (Donald) Trump to be with them. If they agree, I will join them, so that Istanbul becomes a center of peace," he said after the second meeting of the Russian and Ukrainian delegations in Istanbul.

Erdogan said that holding the "meeting in itself is a success, after yesterday's events," referring to Kiev's drone attack on military airfields deep inside Russia.

The operation, unprecedented since the beginning of the conflict, targeted four Russian military airfields and hit several dozen aircraft, including strategic bombers, even in Siberia, far from the front, according to the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU).