Kyiv - Saba:
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy confirmed that the next round of peace talks with Russia will be held in Turkey on Wednesday, the first face-to-face meeting in more than seven weeks.
Zelenskyy's statement came after a meeting with the head of the Security and Defense Council, Rustam Umerov, who informed him of the expected date.
In his evening address, Zelenskyy explained that preparations are underway for a new prisoner exchange, and that additional details will be announced in the coming hours. He continued, "Today I discussed with Rustam Umerov the preparations for a new meeting with the Russian side, scheduled for Wednesday."
For its part, the Russian news agency TASS quoted a Turkish source as saying that the talks would be held on Wednesday, while the Russian news agency RIA, citing another source, reported that they would extend to Thursday and Friday.
In Moscow, the Kremlin confirmed that it was awaiting an understanding on the timetable, but indicated that the positions remained "completely opposed." Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said, "We have a draft memorandum of understanding, and the Ukrainian side has also submitted another draft, but they are completely contradictory so far."
It is worth noting that the previous two rounds of talks, held in Istanbul on May 16 and June 2, resulted in the exchange of thousands of prisoners and the remains of soldiers, but achieved little progress on a ceasefire or political settlement.