Russia, Ukraine conclude 3rd round of peace talks in Istanbul

Russian and Ukrainian delegations held a third round of peace talks on Wednesday evening at the Ciragan Palace in Istanbul, Türkiye, during which the two sides agreed on another prisoner exchange but clashed on ceasefire terms and a potential presidential meeting.

Russian presidential aide Vladimir Medinsky and Secretary of Ukraine's National Security and Defense Council Rustem Umerov led the Russian and Ukrainian delegations, respectively.

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Russia, Ukraine conclude 3rd round of peace talks in Istanbul

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Russia, Ukraine conclude 3rd round of peace talks in Istanbul

After the talks, Medinsky told reporters that Russia and Ukraine agreed to exchange 1,200 prisoners of war each.

Russia has returned the bodies of 7,000 fallen Ukrainian soldiers and is ready to return 3,000 more, he said.

He also said that the Russian side proposed establishing three online working groups with Ukraine to address political, humanitarian, and military issues.

A meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is not being considered until certain processes are completed, he added.

Following the talks, Zelensky wrote on social media platform X that the ninth stage of prisoner exchange took place "today," which involved more than 1,000 people from the Ukrainian side, including those "seriously ill and severely wounded."

"It is important that the exchanges are ongoing," he wrote.

For his part, Umerov said that in this round of negotiations, Ukraine proposed to hold a leaders' meeting to end the conflict by the end of August. In addition to the Ukrainian and Russian leaders, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and U.S. President Donald Trump will also be invited to the meeting. At the same time, Ukraine signaled willingness to cease fire during the negotiations, especially proposing to stop attacks on key and civilian infrastructure.

Umerov said that Ukraine and Russia have held several meetings and have made some progress in humanitarian efforts, but no substantial breakthrough has been made in negotiations over ceasefire. Ukraine is gradually advancing relevant work according to its priorities. Among them, the interests of the people, achieving a ceasefire and facilitating a meeting between the leaders have always been Ukraine's priorities.

In his opening remarks to the talks, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan urged the two delegations to engage in result-oriented negotiations aimed at achieving a ceasefire and ultimately ending the war.

Fidan said their goal is to end the bloody war, which has come at a heavy cost, as soon as possible.

While the previous two rounds of talks in Istanbul -- held on May 16 and June 2 -- led to the exchange of thousands of war prisoners and the bodies of fallen soldiers, they produced little progress toward a ceasefire.

The central parity rate of the Chinese currency renminbi, or the yuan, strengthened 20 pips to 7.0108 against the U.S. dollar Monday, according to the China Foreign Exchange Trade System.

In China's spot foreign exchange market, the yuan is allowed to rise or fall by 2 percent from the central parity rate each trading day.

The central parity rate of the yuan against the U.S. dollar is based on a weighted average of prices offered by market makers before the opening of the interbank market each business day.