The Ukraine has proposed holding a new round of negotiations with Russia by the end of June to restart efforts to end the now three-year-old war.

“We propose to the Russian side to hold a meeting from 20 to 30 June,” Ukrainian Defence Minister Rustem Umerov said after talks in Constantinople today. He stressed that the delegations of the two countries should seek to organize a direct meeting between Volodymyr Zelensky and Vladimir Putin – something the Ukrainian president had called for last month, with no response from the Kremlin.

At today’s meeting, the Russian side was again represented by presidential adviser Vladimir Medinsky, who leads Moscow’s negotiating team.

After the talks ended, Ukrainian negotiator Sergiy Kislytsia said Russia had again rejected Kiev’s request for an unconditional cease-fire. “The Russian side continued to reject the proposal for an unconditional ceasefire,” he told a news conference, stressing that Moscow’s argument is that such agreements give Ukraine time to regroup and resupply while Russian forces are gaining ground on the ground.

The head of the Russian delegation, Vladimir Medinsky, said Moscow had proposed a short-term ceasefire lasting two to three days in selected areas and handed the Ukrainian delegation a detailed memorandum with Russia’s proposals for a full ceasefire. According to Medinsky, the document includes concrete steps towards a comprehensive ceasefire agreement, which Kiev will study carefully in the coming days.

Exchange of prisoners and dead soldiers

Despite the deadlock on the political front, progress was made on humanitarian issues. The two sides agreed on the exchange of seriously wounded prisoners of war, soldiers aged 18 to 25, and on procedures for repatriating the bodies of fallen soldiers.

“The greatest value is human life and if such meetings allow the return of even a few people, then it is worth it,” a Ukrainian official said, adding that the number of people involved has not yet been determined.

Medinsky also said Russia will hand over more than 6,000 bodies of Ukrainian soldiers within the next week, and described the results of the talks as similar to those of the first round last month.

“We remain committed to peace”

Ukrainian officials noted that they were unable to respond to the Russian proposals as their memo was only delivered during today’s meeting. They stressed, however, that although they were not aware of the Russian demands beforehand, they came to the talks in a spirit of dialogue.

“I want to reiterate that Ukraine remains constructive and committed to peace. That is why we are here,” a spokesman for the Ukrainian delegation said.