Third round of talks ends in Istanbul – DW – 07/23/2025

Kyiv on Wednesday brought back over 1,000 prisoners of war from Russia, as part of an exchange agreed in Istanbul, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said.

“Seriously ill and severely wounded defenders are returning home,” Zelenskyy wrote on X. “For a thousand families, this means the joy of embracing their loved ones again. I am grateful to everyone who contributed to this effort.”

Many of those returned on Wednesday had been imprisoned for over three years, Zelenskyy added, vowing that they will all receive the necessary support and medical assistance.

“Bringing all our people back is a priority for the state. And we will continue doing everything possible to ensure that every one of our people returns from captivity,” the Ukrainian president wrote.

Moscow and Kyiv have agreed to exchange 1,200 prisoners of war each during peace talks in Istanbul, a Russian negotiator Vladimir Medinsky said after the talks in Istanbul.

In addition to the POW exchange, Russia also offered to hand Ukraine the bodies of 3,000 killed soldiers, the negotiator added.

“Continuing the exchange of prisoners of war, we have agreed that at least 1,200 additional prisoners of war will be exchanged on both sides in the near future,” Medinsky said at a press conference.

Medinsky also said that Russia offered Ukraine a 24-hour to 48-hour ceasefire.

When asked about Kyiv’s bid for a meeting between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Russian President Vladimir Putin, Medinsky said such a meeting should only be for signing documents and not for holding discussions.

“We discussed at length the positions set out by our sides in the memoranda submitted last time. The positions are quite distant. We agreed to continue contacts,” Medinsky told reporters.

Several thousand people rallied in Kyiv to protest against a law signed off by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy that removes the independence of two key anti-corruption bodies.

The marchers, mostly young, urged Zelenskyy to veto the legislation. It is the biggest protest in Kyiv since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

Kyiv’s allies worry that the move would undermine anti-corruption reforms that are key to Ukraine’s bid to join the European Union.

According to media reports, the Ukrainian and Russian delegations concluded their negotiations in Istanbul by agreeing to carry out another prisoner exchange.

The Russian state news agency TASS reported that the talks lasted around 40 minutes.

Negotiation teams from Ukraine and Russia began a fresh round of talks in Istanbul on Wednesday evening.

The two sides previously met in the Turkish city in May and June, which resulted in exchanges of prisoners and soldiers’ bodies, but nothing resembling a move towards peace.

The negotiation team leaders from Ukraine and Russia are in one-on-one talks in Istanbul, news agencies have reported.

Russia’s Vladimir Medinsky and Ukraine’s Rustem Umerov reportedly met ahead of a third round of peace talks.

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that he would submit a new bill to parliament amid strong opposition to legislation restricting the independence of anti-corruption bodies.

In his evening address, Zelenskyy committed to retaining the agencies’ independence, saying “all standards for the independence of anti-corruption institutions will be in place.”

Zelenskyy promised that the new law on the function of anti-corruption bodies would answer the concerns of those who have taken to the streets in the largest protests seen in Ukraine since the start of the war.

On Tuesday, parliament in Kyiv passed laws placing the National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU) and the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office (SAP) largely under the control of the Prosecutor General’s Office.

Allies reacted with concern, worrying that the move would undermine anti-corruption reforms key to Ukraine’s bid to join the European Union.

European Commission head Ursula von der Leyen demanded “explanations” from Zelenskyy over the change, the EU said Wednesday. 

“President von der Leyen conveyed her strong concerns about the consequences of the amendments,” the AFP news agency quoted EU spokesman Guillaume Mercier as saying.

Ukrainian authorities have arrested the alleged operator of a large Russian-language cybercrime platform in a joint operation with French authorities and Europol.

In a statement, Europol said that a lengthy investigation by French police, in cooperation with Ukrainian counterparts, led to the arrest of the suspected administrator of xss.is, which it said was one of the worlds “most influential Russian-speaking cybercrime platforms.”

Europol said that the forum had more than 50,000 registered users and was a key marketplace for stolen data, hacking tools and also illicit services.

The suspect is believed to have made over €7 million ($8.2 million) by allegedly mediating disputes between criminals while guaranteeing the security of transactions.

Before his arrest in Kyiv, the suspect is believed to have been active for over two decades.

The Paris public prosecutor’s office has been investigating the platform since 2021 on charges including gang-related extortion and aiding and abetting attacks on data processing systems.

Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry said its delegation has arrived in Istanbul for talks with Russia.

Ministry spokesperson Heorhii Tykhyi confirmed the arrival of the team, that will once again be led by former defense minister, Rustem Umerov.

Earlier, Russian media outlets reported that the Kremlin team led by Vladimir Medinsky had arrived in Istanbul and that the talks were expected to begin in the evening at the Ciragan Palace.

German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul told German news outlet Bild that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s move to remove the independence of two key anti-corruption bodies hampers Ukraine’s path to the EU membership. 

Zelenskyy has often expressed that one day he would like Ukraine to join the 27-member European Union.  

“The restrictions on the independence of the Ukrainian anti-corruption authorities hampers Ukraine’s path to the EU,” Wadephul said. “I expect Ukraine to continue its fight against corruption consistently.”  

Zelenskyy signed off on legislation that would put the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) and Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office (SAPO) under the direct purview of Ukraine’s prosecutor general. The Ukrainian prosecutor general was appointed by Zelenskyy. 

Zelenskyy’s support of the legislation has sparked the first widespread anti-government demonstrations in Ukraine since the start of Russia’s invasion in February 2022. 

The Ukrainian leader met with Ukrainian anti-corruption and security agencies in a meeting on Wednesday. 

“We all hear what society says,” Zelenskyy wrote on the social media platform Telegram, while pledging to “resolve existing issues.”

Bild reported Wadephul spoke with Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha on Wednesday and urged the Ukrainian side to keep up anti-corruption efforts. 

German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius called for US President Donald Trump’s administration to provide “watertight” assurances in regards to Patriot air-defense systems for Ukraine. 

Pistorius told German news outlet Spiegel that Germany and its NATO allies need guarantees that US-manufactured Patriot systems delivered to Ukraine would be replaced within a timeframe of about six to eight months.  

Pistorius’s comments come after Trump said European NATO countries could buy weapons from the US which could then be delivered for Ukraine to defend itself amid Russia’s invasion. 

The US is seeking for Germany and other European countries to send Patriot systems to Ukraine first from their own stocks. Then, the US would send replacement Patriot systems to European allies. 

This arrangement has led to concern from Germany as Pistorius told Spiegel its necessary that “the countries transferring systems continue to meet their NATO requirements and that no security gaps arise for NATO.” 

Earlier this week, Germany said it would “contribute to providing” five Patriot missile defense systems to Ukraine. 

Anne Applebaum is an award-winning historian, writer, and publicist.

In an interview with DW, she shared her insights on Russian President Vladimir Putin’s goals in Ukraine.

She also explained what she thinks the West doesn’t understand about Putin, and vice versa. 

Russia said the direct talks in Istanbul later on Wednesday with Ukrainian officials will be “very difficult.”

“Indeed, our delegation has left for Istanbul, and talks are indeed scheduled for this evening… No one expects an easy road. It will be very difficult,” Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told journalists, with French news agency AFP reporting on the comments.  

Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. Russia is seeking to solidify its control over areas in eastern Ukraine, whereas Ukraine wants Russian troops to leave those regions and to stop the invasion to ensure peace.   

Ukraine’s air force has lost one of its French Mirage fighter jets, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said, attributing the loss to technical failure.

In a video message on X, Zelenskyy said the pilot had ejected safely and there were no injuries or fatalities from the incident. He also clarified that it was not caused by Russian forces.

Meanwhile the Ukrainian Air Force said: “The pilot reported a failure of aviation equipment to the flight director. He then acted competently, as is expected in a crisis situation, and successfully ejected.” 

The fighter jet was part of an undisclosed number of Mirages France delivered to Ukraine in February, an important addition to the war-ravaged nation’s defenses against Russian drones and missiles.

US Energy Secretary Chris Wright said that sanctioning Russian oil in a bid to end the war in Ukraine is a “very real possibility,” while speaking to broadcaster Fox News.

This comes after President Donald Trump said Washington could put 100% tariffs on Russian oil, among other sanctions, if Moscow does not agree on a peace deal with Ukraine before September.

“It is huge pressure on Russia. That’s the biggest pressure you can put on them,” Wright said in the interview. 

The EU and the US already have some sanctions on Russian energy enterprises but Russia has managed to sell most of its oil via so-called ‘shadow fleets’ of oil tankers operating around the globe under other country’s flags.

Wright said a higher level of sanctions was now possible becasue the US has become the world’s top producer of oil and gas. “We’re able to do things that we couldn’t do before,” he said.