Ukraine on Wednesday proposed direct talks within weeks between its President Volodymyr Zelensky and Russia’s Vladimir Putin while Moscow tempered prospects for progress at a fresh round of talks in Istanbul on Wednesday.

A Russian negotiator said his country agreed to the latest in a series of prisoner exchanges with Ukraine and proposed brief ceasefires allowing dead and wounded soldiers to be recovered.

Host country Turkey urged steps towards a lasting ceasefire and peace deal, but the Kremlin played down any expectations of a breakthrough after three and a half years of war.

Ukraine’s lead negotiator, Rustem Umerov, told reporters: “Priority number one is to organize the meeting of the leaders, of presidents,” in comments after the talks.

He said Kyiv had proposed to hold the talks by the end of August, with U.S. President Donald Trump and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan also participating.

Moscow’s lead negotiator Vladimir Medinsky told reporters the sides had lengthy discussions but added: “The positions are quite distant. We agreed to continue contacts.”

He said both countries agreed to exchange 1,200 prisoners of war each and that Moscow offered to hand Kyiv the bodies of 3,000 killed soldiers.

“We once again proposed to the Ukrainian side… to establish short 24- to 48-hour ceasefires on the line of contact, so that medical teams are able to collect the wounded and so that commanders can come take the bodies of their soldiers,” he added.

Putin last month called Russian and Ukrainian demands for peace remain “absolutely contradictory,” but noted that the goal of ongoing talks was to “bring these positions together.”