Russia 'ready' to hold next round of talks with Ukraine in Istanbul, grateful to Türkiye for providing platform

Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Friday that Moscow is ready to hold the next round of peace talks with Ukraine in Istanbul.

Speaking at a news conference in Minsk, Belarus, Putin said the date of the third round of the Russian-Ukrainian talks in Istanbul will 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) Erdogan, remains in his position to support this process, and we are very grateful to him for this," he said.

The dates of the next Russian-Ukrainian meeting will be defined by the head of the negotiation teams, he added.

"We are ready to hold such a meeting in Istanbul. But when specifically, these are the group leaders from both sides, and they are in constant contact, they are now agreeing on the time of the meeting," he said.

Putin added that in his opinion, the teams should discuss memoranda on a peace treaty.