Russia and Ukraine agree to swap 6,000 soldiers' bodies after peace talks in Turkey

WASHINGTON (TNND) — Leaders from Russia and Ukraine agreed on Monday to swap 6,000 bodies of soldiers killed in action during a second round of peace talks in Turkey, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in Vilnius, Lithuania.

The two sides met for just over an hour after a string of surprise attacks over the weekend in the three-year war. However, there was no major breakthrough on a ceasefire.

The meeting comes just two weeks after Russian President Vladimir Putin failed to attend the first meeting in Istanbul with Zelenskyy, bringing no breakthrough in international diplomatic efforts to stop the fighting. Ukraine and Russia agreed to the exchange of 1,000 prisoners from each side.

The Ukrainian delegation was led by Defense Minister Rustem Umerov, officials said. Vladimir Medinsky, an aide to Russian leader Vladimir Putin, headed the Kremlin team, Russian state media reported.

Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan chaired the talks at the city’s Ciragan Palace and gave an opening speech to mark their start.

On Sunday, Ukraine launched a surprise attack on four Russian airbases, destroying more than 40 warplanes.

Zelenskyy called it a “brilliant operation” that “took over a year and a half” to prepare for.

“Not everything can be revealed at this moment, but these are Ukrainian actions that will undoubtedly be in history books,” Zelenskyy said. “Ukraine is defending itself, and rightly so – we are doing everything to make Russia feel the need to end this war. Russia started this war, Russia must end it. Glory to Ukraine!”

Meanwhile, Russia on Sunday fired the biggest number of drones — 472 — at Ukraine since its full-scale invasion in February 2022, Ukraine’s air force said, in an apparent effort to overwhelm air defenses. That was part of a recently escalating campaign of strikes in civilian areas of Ukraine.

U.S.-led efforts to push the two sides into accepting a ceasefire have failed so far, with Ukraine agreeing and the Kremlin effectively rejecting it.

President Donald Trump voiced his frustrations last week with Putin, saying he “has gone absolutely CRAZY!”

He told reporters in the Oval Office on Wednesday that he will give it two weeks to determine if Putin is serious about peace talks with Ukraine.

Zelenskyy said that “if the Istanbul meeting brings nothing, that clearly means strong new sanctions are urgently, urgently needed” against Russia.

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Editor’s note: The Associated Press contributed to this article.