Russia to drag out meetings in Istanbul to postpone sanctions – Zelenskyy
Russia will drag out meetings in Istanbul to postpone sanctions, etc., Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy commented on the possibility of a visit to Istanbul after June 22.
"The 'Russians' will definitely drag out Istanbul – to postpone sanctions and so on. And we will really be in a difficult situation of choosing to continue like this, or go in a different direction," Zelenskyy said during a meeting with journalists on Friday.
The president added that at the meeting in Istanbul, the Russians tried to add children to the lists of military prisoners for an exchange.
"They tried to exchange – give us children and take our military. And we didn't go for it. They said that means we don't want to return the children," he said.
According to him, at the next meeting in Istanbul, Ukraine handed over the first list of children, it was one of the lists that were handed over to partners.
"They [the Russians] took it. They did not raise the issue of their children with us, because they do not exist. This is just some kind of bravado. I do not know anything about this. After that, they did not return to the topic of children," Zelenskyy said.
