⚡️ Statement by Head of the Russian delegation Vladimir Medinsky following the second round of resumed Russia-Ukraine direct talks in Istanbul (June 2, 2025)

Read in full

💬 We handed our two-part memorandum to the Turkish side.

• The first part concerns ways to achieve a durable and sustainable peace.

• The second part outlines the steps towards making a genuine ceasefire possible.

<...> The Ukrainian side took it for further review. They will study it and tell us what they think about it, and we will take it from there.

In addition to that, we resolved several practical matters.

Firstly, we will unilaterally hand over 6'000 frozen bodies of Ukrainian soldiers to the Ukrainian side. <...> Next week, we will return these bodies to the Ukrainian side so they may be laid to rest with dignity. <...>

We have agreed on the largest prisoner swap to date. All gravely wounded and seriously ill soldiers will be exchanged all for all. This is a humanitarian gesture on our part. The same approach — all for all — will be used to exchange young soldiers under the age of 25. The overall exchange quota will be at least 1'000 people from each side, possibly more. These numbers are being finalised.

Furthermore, we agreed to create permanent medical commissions that will compile reports which the parties will use to draw up exchange lists of severely wounded soldiers without having to wait for major political decisions. These exchanges will be conducted regularly as part of routine operations.

❗️ We proposed imposing a short-term ceasefire for two to three days on several stretches of the line of contact. Our military experts will work on it in coordination with the Ukrainians. <...>

The Russian army is advancing, and there are significantly more bodies of the Ukrainian soldiers in the grey zone. For this reason, we propose collecting the bodies of their fallen soldiers and transferring them immediately on-site to the opposing side for proper burial under Christian traditions. We let them know about this proposal. The Ukrainian military promised to review it promptly. <...>

Children are central to us, and I would like to say a few words about them. We’ve been hearing lately <…> that “1.5 million Ukrainian children were abducted by the Russians.” Then it came down to “200'000 Ukrainian children abducted by the Russians.” Now, the official figure is “20'000 children abducted by the Russians.” We’ve constantly asked to provide documentary evidence. Show us who these children are, give us something, such as missing child reports filed by their parents. Who are these children? They weren’t on any lists. What we get are mere numbers with no substance. <...>

We finally obtained a complete list. As you can see, it’s not 1.5 million, and not even 20'000 names. It includes 339 names. We will look into each case. We have reviewed every single inquiry lately. The Commissioner for Children’s Rights office had 101 children reunite with their families. 22 children have come back home from Ukraine and reunited with their families. Our children, too, may end up in the midst of a combat zone and lose contact with their families. <...>

This list of 339 names only underscores the fact that child abduction has, unfortunately, been turned by the Ukrainian authorities into a media show for bleeding-heart Europeans. <...> In reality, we are talking about dozens of children. None of these children have been abducted. Not a single one. These are the children who were rescued by our soldiers — often at the cost of their lives — pulled from combat zones and taken to safety. We are looking for their parents. If the parents are found, the children are returned.

☝️ Every child will reunite with their parents. All families on both sides will come together. We are working on it. It’s a matter of honour.

❓Question: What language were the talks held in?

💬 Vladimir Medinsky: I’ll give you three guesses.

❓Question: Was it Russian?

💬 Vladimir Medinsky: Correct, you got it right straight away.

🎙 Excerpt from the report by the Head of the Russian Federation’s Delegation to the Russia–Ukraine direct talks, Aide to the President of the Russian Federation, Vladimir Medinsky, at a meeting between President of Russia Vladimir Putin with members of the Government (June 4, 2025)

💬 Vladimir Medinsky: Mr. President, colleagues,

The bilateral talks in Istanbul began with a restricted-format meeting that lasted more than three hours, followed by an expanded discussion, which included members of the delegations. The discussion was in Russian.

We presented the other side with our two-part draft memorandum on a peaceful settlement.

The first part contained terms for a long-term peace agreement.

The second part outlined the terms of the ceasefire.

The memorandum is guided by the basic principles that you formulated at the Foreign Ministry last June. The Ukrainian side promised to study it and give its comments later.

In general, during the talks, they reaffirmed their proposals, which basically include two main points. First, they want to begin with a 30- or 60-day unconditional ceasefire. Second, this ceasefire period is to be used to prepare for a summit meeting of the two heads of state. They set it all out in their version of the memorandum, which was handed over to us on May 28.

Humanitarian issues were also discussed on the sidelines. We emphasised the need to focus on working out the terms of peace rather than another temporary truce, and conveyed your opinion that a meeting at the level of heads of state is possible, but it needs to be substantively prepared to achieve results. The heads of state should approve agreements, not spend time working out the details. It is up to them to make final decisions on the drafts that have been fully prepared and coordinated.

When it comes to humanitarian issues, we agreed on the following.

First. Conduct an equal prisoner of war exchange, at least 1'000 people from each side, primarily from among those wounded, severely ill and below the age of 25. The final numbers of this equal exchange are being approved. We expect approximately 1'200 people from each side. It will be the biggest POW swap on record. We are ready to begin on June 7–9. We are fully prepared.

Second. Establish a communication line to promptly resolve urgent issues of immediate transfers of gravely wounded prisoners of war outside the framework of general exchanges.

Third. We proposed, unilaterally, to transfer to Kiev over 6'000 bodies of Ukrainian troops. <...> We are ready to begin shortly. We understand Ukraine may have bodies of our troops as well although in much smaller numbers. But we are prepared to receive any remains, if there are any.

Next. We have proposed arranging humanitarian pauses in certain sectors of the front, two or three days at a time, to collect remains, because it is impossible to do so under fire, for security reasons. Initially, they upheld our proposal and took it in, but literally two hours later, Zelensky publicly declined this potential agreement. Nevertheless, we are ready to revisit it.

Finally, the Ukrainian side handed over to us the list of 339 children allegedly kidnapped from the territory of Ukraine. Here is the list in question. We are working on it, through the office of the Commissioner for Children’s Rights. We will investigate every name.

But I must note that, for propaganda purposes, they earlier claimed that tens and hundreds of thousands of children had been brought over here. In fact, the actual number is 339 and we still need to check how many are in Russia, evacuated by our soldiers from under fire, and how many will eventually turn up in Europe, as experience shows.

Mr. President, to conclude, we have established an effective communication channel on humanitarian issues. For other matters, the ball is in their court.

⚡️ Comment by the Aide to the President of the Russian Federation Yury Ushakov on the outcomes of Russia's President Vladimir Putin’s telephone conversation with US President Donald Trump (June 4, 2025)

💬 About an hour ago, the fourth telephone conversation between our President and US President Donald Trump concluded. <...>

Vladimir Putin provided detailed information on the outcomes of the second round of direct Russian-Ukrainian talks in Istanbul.

It was emphasised that Ukraine tried to derail these talks by carrying out targeted attacks on purely civilian targets and civilian population on direct orders from the Kiev regime.

These attacks unequivocally constitute an act of terrorism under international law and, in our view, the Kiev regime has essentially degenerated into a terrorist organisation. The Russian side did not fall for the provocations and, as you know, the second round has effectively taken place in Istanbul.

To reiterate, our President extensively covered the content and the outcomes of the talks and emphasised that, overall, these talks were productive. The corresponding memorandums were exchanged and will be analysed in the capitals – Moscow and Kiev – and then, we hope, both sides can continue the talks.

Regarding the strikes on military airfields, this issue was also discussed. Donald Trump reiterated that Americans were not informed in advance about them.

Naturally, the Leaders agreed to continue contacts on the Ukraine issue, both at the highest level and through other channels as well.

In addition to Ukraine, a number of international issues were discussed, with a focus on the stalled talks between the United States and Iran on the Iranian nuclear programme.

☝️ Donald Trump believes that Russia’s assistance may be necessary, and he would appreciate it if Russia could work with the Iranian side accordingly.

Additionally, the Middle East was discussed, as well as the armed conflict between India and Pakistan, which has been halted with the personal involvement of President Trump.

Furthermore, the Presidents exchanged views on the prospects for restoring Russia-US cooperation in various areas, which, according to both Presidents, have enormous potential.

🤝 In conclusion, both Leaders characterised the exchange of views as positive and highly productive. President Trump and our President also confirmed their willingness to remain in constant communication.

I would also note that both Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin highly appreciated the efforts of President Trump’s Special Envoy Steven Witkoff.

Read in full

#RussiaUSA