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May 16, 2025

17 minutes

Available for over a year

Ukraine and Russia have agreed to swap 1,000 prisoners of war each after the first face-to-face talks in three years. Kyiv also requested direct talks with President Vladimir Putin, and Moscow says it "noted" this request.

So is this a diplomatic breakthrough?

Vitaly gauges the mood from a sunny Istanbul, explains why an interpreter was required, and talks about what the next steps might be.

Today’s episode is presented by Lucy Hockings and Jamie Coomarasamy.

The producer was Ben Carter. The technical producer was Phil Bull. The series producer is Tim Walklate. The senior news editor is Sam Bonham.

Email [email protected] with your questions and comments. You can also send us a message or voice note via WhatsApp, Signal or Telegram to +44 330 1239480

You can the Ukrainecast discussion on Newscast’s Discord server here: tinyurl.com/ukrainecastdiscord