ISTANBUL - The delegations of Russia and Ukraine concluded the third round of talks in Istanbul, which lasted about 40 minutes. According to a TASS source, no continuation is planned. "This round is over, there will be no further continuation," uvedl zdroj.

The main result of the negotiations was an agreement to exchange not only soldiers but also civilians, which is a significant step in the negotiations. "We have agreed to exchange not only military personnel but also civilians," potvrdil zdroj.

The third round of talks followed on from the previous negotiations. The first round took place on 16 May in Istanbul, where the parties agreed to exchange 1,000 prisoners on each side and exchanged memoranda on options for resolving the crisis. The second round took place on 2 June, during which draft memoranda on a peace settlement were exchanged and an agreement was reached on the exchange of seriously wounded soldiers and bodies of the fallen. Russia subsequently handed over several thousand bodies to Ukraine.

The Russian delegation in Istanbul was led by Presidential Adviser Vladimir Medinsky, while the Ukrainian delegation was represented by Secretary of the National Security and Defence Council Rustem Umerov. The third round of talks thus brought further progress on humanitarian issues, but no further talks are scheduled at this time.

TASS/gnews.cz - GH