Russian President Vladimir Putin has said, Russia is prepared to hand over the bodies of 3,000 fallen Ukrainian soldiers. During a meeting with the heads of leading international news agencies in St. Petersburg, Mr Putin said, Russia has returned the bodies of 6,000 fallen Ukrainian soldiers and is ready to hand over nearly 3,000 more.

The Russian President added that the peace talks in Istanbul make sense and have a positive outcome. The second round of peace talks between Ukraine and Russia took place in Istanbul on the  2nd of this month. During the meeting, the delegations discussed the possibility of a ceasefire. They also talked about preparations for a new exchange of prisoners of war.

The first stage of the prisoner exchange took place on June 9. The second, third and fourth rounds followed on June 11, 13 and 14. As part of these exchanges, the bodies of 3,600 fallen soldiers have been returned to Ukraine.