Ukrainian Defence Minister Rustem Umerov says that key issues can only be resolved if a meeting between President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Russian President Vladimir Putin is held at the end of this month.

Umerov headed the Ukranian delegation at the brief peace talks in Istanbul yesterday, where the two parties agreed on the exchanging of more prisoners.

He also highlighted the importance of releasing Ukrainian children that were deported to Russia.

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Umerov says they agreed to focus on specific categories rather than numbers when it comes to the release of prisoners of war.

‘We agreed to exchange all for all seriously wounded and seriously sick prisoners of war. Second category is young soldiers who are from 18 to 25 years-old. All for all. Also, we agreed to return 6 000 bodies of fallen soldiers. We have provided the other side with a list of several hundred Ukrainian children who were deported to Russia,” adds Umerov

Meanwhile, Zelenskyy says the Russian delegation only agreed on releasing 10 out of the 400 children.

“Regarding the children. We handed over a list of almost 400 children to the Russians and they promised us to work out something in this field, up to 10 children. This is what their vision on humanitarian issues looks like,’ says Zelenskyy.

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