KYIV/ MOSCOW – Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Thursday that he expects the agreements between the United States and Russia on not targeting Ukrainian cities during extreme winter weather to be implemented.
"Our teams discussed this in the United Arab Emirates. We expect the agreements to be implemented," Zelensky said on the social media platform X.
Such "de-escalation steps contribute to real movement towards ending the war", he said.
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Earlier in the day, US President Donald Trump said he had asked Russian President Vladimir Putin to refrain from attacking the Ukrainian capital and other cities for a week due to the severe cold.
Soldiers' bodies exchanged
Russia and Ukraine have conducted another exchange of fallen soldiers' bodies, authorities said on Thursday.
"As part of the Istanbul agreements, the bodies of 1,000 deceased Ukrainian soldiers were handed over to Ukraine, and the bodies of 38 deceased Russian soldiers were handed over to Russia," Russian presidential aide Vladimir Medinsky said on Telegram.
Ukrainian investigators would conduct necessary examinations to identify the repatriated bodies, said Ukraine's Coordinating Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War.
Petro Andryushchenko, head of the Center for the Study of Occupation, said Ukraine transferred 38 bodies to Russia as part of the exchange.
Russia and Ukraine agreed on an "all-for-all" exchange of seriously ill and wounded prisoners, soldiers under the age of 25, and the bodies of fallen soldiers during their talks in Istanbul on June 2, 2025.
