Ukrainian evacuees stand on a bus carrying refugees after crossing the Ukrainian border with Poland at the Medyka border crossing, southeastern Poland, on March 28, 2022. (ANGELOS TZORTZINIS / AFP)
ISTANBUL/KIEV/MOSCOW – The Russian delegation has arrived in Turkey's largest city Istanbul on Monday for a fresh round of peace talks with Ukraine, the CNN Turk broadcaster reported.
The plane carrying the Russian representatives landed at the Ataturk Airport, which is exclusively used for diplomatic missions, it said.
According to Turkish diplomatic sources, the talks are expected to begin on Tuesday morning.
The plane carrying the Russian representatives landed at the Ataturk Airport, which is exclusively used for diplomatic missions
In a phone call on Sunday, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin agreed to hold the next round of negotiations in Istanbul.
Erdogan reiterated that Turkey would continue to contribute in every possible way during this process. So far, Russia and Ukraine have held three rounds of in-person talks in Belarus, and their fourth session was a video conference.
Prisoner exchange
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Sunday that his country stands ready for an all-for-all prisoner exchange with Russia before the end of hostilities, the presidential press service reported, as the two countries prepare for a two-day face-to-face peace negotiations.
"I believe that there is an agreement to exchange everyone for everyone, we have this number – let's exchange for this number," Zelensky said in an interview with Russian media.
He also noted that Ukraine wants to hand over the corpses of Russian soldiers to their relatives.
On Thursday, Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk said that Ukraine and Russia conducted the first prisoner swap since the start of the conflict.
In the first prisoner swap since the start of the conflict, 10 Ukrainians held by the Russian military were released in exchange for as many Russian soldiers captured by Ukrainian forces
Ten Ukrainians held by the Russian military were released in exchange for ten Russian soldiers captured by Ukrainian forces.
Ukraine also handed over to Russia 11 civilian Russian sailors, who were rescued from a sunken ship near Odesa, in exchange for 19 Ukrainian civilian sailors, according to Vereshchuk.
The new round of talks will take place after the Russian military announced on Friday that the main tasks of the first stage of Russia's special military operation in Ukraine had been completed in general.
Chernobyl
Meanwhile, Ukraine has asked the United Nations (UN) to take actions on demilitarizing the exclusion zone around the Chernobyl nuclear power plant (NPP), the government-run Ukrinform news agency reported on Monday.
"We demand that the UN Security Council take immediate measures to demilitarize the exclusion zone of the Chernobyl NPP and establish a special UN mission to eliminate the risk of recurrence of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster," Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Vereshchuk was quoted by the news agency as saying.
Currently, there is a risk of damaging the confinement structures built over the destroyed Chernobyl nuclear power unit No 4 due to the hostilities and a large amount of ammunition in the area, Vereshchuk added.
This Maxar satellite image taken and released on March 10, 2022 shows a close-up view of the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant in Pripyat, Ukraine. (SATELLITE IMAGE ©2022 MAXAR TECHNOLOGIES / AFP)
On Sunday, Ukrainian Ombudswoman Lyudmyla Denisova said that forest fires, which broke out around the Chernobyl NPP due to hostilities, cover more than 10,000 hectares.
Ukrainian firefighters are unable to reach the area, which is controlled by Russian forces, Denisova added.
The Chernobyl nuclear plant, some 110 km north of Kiev, suffered one of the worst nuclear accidents in human history on April 26, 1986.
On Feb 24, Mykhailo Podoliak, advisor to the head of the President's Office of Ukraine, said Russian forces had seized the plant.
Kremlin hits back at Biden's remark
The Kremlin hit back at United States President Joe Biden's remark during a speech on Saturday that Putin "cannot remain in power", saying that's not up to Biden because Russia's presidents "are elected by Russians".
Biden made his comment castigating his Russian counterpart during a visit to the Royal Castle in Polish capital of Warsaw after meeting with top Ukrainian ministers. He participated in intensive NATO, G7 and the European Council summits during his visit to Europe, with the Ukraine crisis as the major focus.
Biden tried to coax a display of unity with European partners, but failed to talk them into concerted actions against Russia.
READ MORE: Diplomat: China, US need to cooperate on Ukraine conflict
In his speech, Biden plainly warned Russia not to "think about moving on one single inch of NATO territory", while bluntly calling the Russian president "a butcher".
Biden coupled his harsh words for Putin with a pointed attempt to appeal to ordinary Russians, saying they were "not our enemy" and urging them to blame their president for the heavy sanctions imposed by the West.
In this image made from a video provided by the Ukrainian A dog walks amid the destruction caused after a Russian attack in Byshiv, on the outskirts of Kyiv, Ukraine, March 27, 2022. (RODRIGO ABD / AP)
Although the White House moved quickly to temper Biden's unprecedented comment on Putin, insisting that the US leader is not seeking "regime change" in Russia and was referring to Putin's influence over neighbors in the region, the Kremlin made its displeasure clear.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said it is not for Biden to decide who should be in power in Russia. "A state leader should control his temper."
"And, of course, each time such personal insults are uttered, they narrow the window of opportunity for our bilateral relations under the current US administration. It is necessary to be aware of this," Peskov stressed.
Biden met with Ukraine's Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba and Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov earlier on Saturday.
READ MORE: Ukraine insists on security guarantees at talks with Russia
He offered reassurance to Ukrainians at a time when nearly 4 million of them have been driven out of their country.
In a tweet, Kuleba said that the meeting allowed him to seek "practical decisions in both political and defense spheres in order to fortify Ukraine's ability to fight back", while Reznikov tweeted that he felt "cautious optimism".
