In Istanbul talks with Ukraine, Russia proposes exchanging 1,200 more soldiers being held prisoner

Russia and Ukraine on Wednesday concluded their third round of Istanbul peace talks in less than an hour, an Anadolu correspondent reported.

The meeting between the delegations followed contacts between their heads, starting around 8.37 p.m. local time (1737GMT) and ending around 9.16 (1816GMT).

Following the meeting, Vladimir Medinsky, head of the Russian delegation, said Russia suggested forming three online working groups, each of them addressing different subject areas-political, humanitarian, and military.

He also said the sides agreed to swap 1,200 troops being held prisoner, and Moscow proposed exchanging not only military personnel but also civilians-some 30 people that Ukraine captured in Russia's Kursk region last year.

Medinsky also said Russia so far has returned around 7,000 bodies of fallen Ukrainian soldiers and offered to transfer 3,000 more, and receive any number of its own deceased soldiers from Ukraine.

Moscow also advocated declaring 24- to 48-hour ceasefires to evacuate wounded soldiers and reclaim the bodies of dead soldiers, he added.