Zelenskyy's 'leader' detail in assessment of Istanbul summit

Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelenskyy made a statement regarding the trilateral summit held in Istanbul.

Attending the Bucharest Nine (B9) Summit held in Vilnius, the capital of Lithuania, with the participation of representatives from Nordic countries and Ukraine, Zelenskyy evaluated the negotiations held in Istanbul to end the war.

Answering journalists' questions via Zoom, Zelenskyy recalled that a decision was made during the negotiations in Turkey for a new prisoner exchange between Russia and Ukraine, saying, "Our soldiers will be exchanged. It will be 1,000 for 1,000. Also, 200 for 200 more could be added."

Stating that they also agreed on the mutual exchange of the bodies of 6,000 soldiers, Zelenskyy said, "Our side has agreed to hand over 6,000 Russian (soldiers') bodies to the Russian side, but this issue needs to be examined very carefully."

I AM READY TO MEET WITH ERDOĞAN, TRUMP, AND PUTIN

Zelenskyy stated that he is ready to meet with President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, US President Donald Trump, and Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Conveying that he told AKP Chairman and President Erdoğan during a phone call that he was ready to hold such a meeting, Zelenskyy said, "(I told President Erdoğan) that I support a meeting at the leaders' level. Because I have the impression that there will be no ceasefire without our meeting."

Arguing that it is not logical for the Russians to offer a 2 or 3-day ceasefire to retrieve the bodies of soldiers who died on the front, Zelenskyy said that a ceasefire is actually a solution to prevent people from being killed.

Speaking about the memorandum that Russia submitted to the Ukrainian delegation for a ceasefire, Zelenskyy stated that he had not yet read the document in full.

Stating that he had received some information about the memorandum prepared by the Russians, Zelenskyy expressed that the document in question looks more like a "Russian ultimatum."

Zelenskyy also noted that he met with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte as part of his contacts in Lithuania and announced that Ukraine has been invited to the NATO Hague Summit.

News Source: AA