Russia accuses Ukraine of not respecting agreement after talks in Türkiye
Russia has accused Ukraine of delaying the exchange of the bodies of dead soldiers, despite an agreement reached in Istanbul earlier this week.
According to RT, on June 7, Presidential Assistant Vladimir Medinsky, head of the Russian negotiating delegation in Istanbul, criticized Ukraine for unilaterally suspending the agreement to exchange soldiers' bodies.
"We have prepared 1,212 bodies of Ukrainian soldiers, transported them to the exchange area in specialized refrigerated trucks. The remaining bodies are also on the way. However, the Ukrainian side did not appear at the meeting point, and they gave quite strange reasons," said Mr. Medinsky.
The Russian official stressed that Moscow "always keeps its promises", calling on Ukraine to strictly adhere to the schedule and agreements reached, as well as to urgently start the exchange process. Mr. Medinsky also confirmed sending Kiev a list of 640 seriously wounded and young prisoners of war for exchange.
"We call on Ukraine to seriously implement the agreements, so that the wounded can return home and the fallen can be properly buried," Mr. Medinsky said.
During their second direct talks in Türkiye earlier this week, Russia and Ukraine agreed to each return more than 6,000 bodies of soldiers. The Russian delegation also sent Kiev a memorandum outlining the conditions for a full ceasefire.
However, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky reacted strongly to Russia's memorandum, saying that Kiev had no reason to continue negotiations of this kind.
"That memorandum is like an ultimatum from Russia. We are ready for further exchanges, but continuing diplomatic meetings at this level does not solve anything," Mr. Zelensky commented, calling for direct negotiations with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
