Russian President Vladimir Putin said Moscow was ready for a new round of peace talks with Ukraine in Istanbul, although the location and time of the discussions have not been agreed upon yet.
Putin said there were big differences between the proposals submitted by the two sides at previous talks, but expressed hope that continued dialogue would help narrow the gap.
He told reporters in Minsk that the two sides' negotiators were in constant contact. Russia was ready to return the bodies of 3,000 more Ukrainian soldiers, he said.
Putin said the date of the third round of the Russian-Ukrainian talks in Istanbul would be determined after completing the war prisoner exchanges, negotiated in Türkiye on June 2.
"In general, we are ready for this (next round of talks), we need to coordinate the place and time. I hope that the president of the Republic of Türkiye, Mr. (Recep Tayyip) Erdoğan, remains in his position to support this process, and we are very grateful to him for this," he said.
