The first direct Ukraine-Russia talks did not deliver a ceasefire but it did result in the largest prisoner swap of the war. CHERNIHIV REGION, Ukraine — For hours Friday, a crowd of hopefuls stood on the roadside wrapped in blue-and-yellow flags and clutching photos of captured Ukrainian soldiers — their eyes peeled for any sign of buses.

Russia and Ukraine conducted the largest prisoner of war exchange of the war to date on Wednesday, with around 1,000 soldiers from each side swapped.

CHERNIHIV REGION, Ukraine (AP) — Russia and Ukraine began a major prisoner exchange Friday, swapping hundreds of soldiers and civilians in the first phase of an exchange that was a moment of cooperation in otherwise failed efforts to reach a ceasefire in the 3-year-old war.

Mr. Trump backed off his demand that Russia declare an immediate cease-fire in Ukraine, instead endorsing Mr. Putin’s call for negotiations between Ukraine and Russia. Mr. Putin made it clear ...

Russian negotiators at peace talks in Istanbul demanded Ukraine pull its troops out of all the Ukrainian regions claimed by Moscow before they would agree to a ceasefire, a senior Ukrainian official familiar with the talks told Reuters.

For three years, two months and 19 days, Ellia Derektorenko waited in agony for any word from her husband, Andrii, a captured Ukrainian soldier. She received only one letter, in 2022, confirming that he was alive and in a Russian prison.