Trump ‘Open’ To Peace Summit As Ukraine-Russia Talks Yield Prisoner Swap But No Ceasefire

US President Donald Trump is “open” to meeting his Russian and Ukrainian counterparts in Turkey, the White House confirmed, amid faltering ceasefire talks between Kyiv and Moscow.

The announcement came after delegations from both sides held their second face-to-face meeting in Istanbul on Monday (2 May) but failed to make headway toward ending the war.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan proposed a three-way summit in either Istanbul or Ankara later this month. While Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy welcomed the proposal, Russian President Vladimir Putin has so far declined, according to the AFP report.

White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt said Trump is “open” to the summit “if it comes to that, but he wants both of these leaders and both sides to come to the table together”. Notably, the US did not send any representative to Monday’s negotiations.

Ukraine’s Deputy Foreign Minister Sergiy Kyslytsya confirmed Russia had rejected an unconditional ceasefire, instead offering a “specific ceasefire for two to three days in certain areas of the front line,” which Russia claimed was for collecting the bodies of fallen soldiers.

Zelenskyy dismissed this, stating, “I think ‘idiots’, because the whole point of a ceasefire is to stop people from becoming dead in the first place.”

Despite the lack of agreement on a full ceasefire, the sides agreed to a large-scale prisoner exchange involving at least 1,000 captured or severely wounded soldiers from each side, and the handover of 6,000 bodies.

Zelenskyy reiterated that peace cannot “reward” Putin and called for an immediate and unconditional ceasefire to cover combat on air, sea and land.

Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan described the talks as being held “in a constructive atmosphere”, with preparations ongoing for a possible leaders’ summit.

Meanwhile, Kyiv reportedly launched a special operation striking deep into Russian territory, damaging an estimated 40 strategic bombers valued at $7 billion.

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