Ukraine promises to take tough measures to those who tortured Russian soldiers - Putin's aide Medinsky

ISTANBUL. March 29 (Interfax) - Russia has voiced its protest in the wake of videos showing torture of its military members in Ukraine, and Ukraine has promised to take the toughest possible measures to those who committed these acts, Russian presidential aide Vladimir Medinsky, who leads the Russian delegation in negotiations with Ukraine, said on Tuesday.

"We have declared a protest with regard to the videos showing humiliations of Russian service members. The Ukrainian side has accepted this protest. They've promised to take the toughest possible measures against those who committed those war crimes, if they catch them first. If we catch them, you understand yourselves," Medinsky told journalists on Tuesday.

A statement summing up Tuesday's round of Russian-Ukrainian negotiations in Istanbul will be issued "in a few hours," he said.

A Russian and a Ukraine delegation are holding negotiations in Istanbul on Tuesday. The talks in an expanded format were preceded by a face-to-face meeting between Medinsky and David Arakhamiya, head of the parliamentary majority faction of the Servant of the People party. A source told Interfax that the talks between Medinsky and Arakhamiya lasted for about one hour and they addressed preconditions for Ukraine's possible neutral status.