Ukraine and Russia agree prisoner-of-war exchange after first direct talks in years

BBC update

UKRAINE and Russia have agreed to swap 1,000 prisoners of war each after the first face-to-face talks in three years.

The date for the transfer has been set, but is not being made public, our correspondent Vitaliy Shevchenko reports from Istanbul.

Ukraine also requested direct talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin - Moscow says it "noted" this request.

Turkish officials, including Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan, facilitated the peace talks - which both sides said included some discussion of a possible ceasefire.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky urges a "strong reaction" if no ceasefire deal is reached following the talks.

Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump says he wants to meet Putin "as soon as we can", as Secretary of State Marco Rubio says "killing needs to stop" following his meeting with Ukrainian and Turkish officials in Istanbul.