In Istanbul, representatives from Russia and Ukraine convened for their second direct peace talks in slightly more than two weeks. However, aside from agreeing to an exchange of thousands of deceased and severely injured soldiers, no significant advances were made towards resolving the three-year-long conflict, as stated by officials.
This meeting followed a series of intense long-range assaults executed by both nations. Ukraine carried out a substantial drone attack on Russian air bases, while Russia responded with its most significant drone offensive against Ukraine since the onset of the war.
During the discussions, Russia presented a memorandum outlining the Kremlin’s conditions for terminating the hostilities. Rustem Umerov, Ukraine’s Defense Minister and leader of their delegation, mentioned that Ukrainian officials require a week to consider the document and formulate a response. He suggested further negotiations might occur between June 20 and June 30.
Subsequent to the dialogues, Russian news agencies released the Russian memorandum’s text, which proposed that Ukraine retract its forces from the four regions that Russia had annexed in September 2022, although never fully captured, as a precondition for a ceasefire.
Additionally, the memorandum urged Ukraine to cease its mobilization endeavors and halt Western arms shipments, conditions previously recommended by Russian President Vladimir Putin. It also suggested that Ukraine suspend any troop redeployments and prohibit any military presence from third countries, necessary for ending the conflict.
Furthermore, the Russian document proposed Ukraine lift martial law and conduct elections. Following that, the two nations could enter into a comprehensive peace agreement, whereby Ukraine would assume a neutral status, abandon aspirations to join NATO, impose limitations on its military size, and recognize Russian as an official language alongside Ukrainian.
Ukraine and its Western allies have previously dismissed these demands from Moscow. In other agreements, both parties consented to the exchange of 6,000 fallen soldiers’ bodies and the establishment of a commission to trade severely injured troops.
Kyiv officials noted that their surprise drone strike on the preceding Sunday either damaged or obliterated more than 40 warplanes stationed at Russian air bases far from Ukraine, even reaching as distant as the Arctic and Siberian regions over 7,000 kilometers from Ukraine.
This complex and unparalleled operation, which took more than a year and a half to orchestrate, was described by Vasyl Maliuk, the head of Ukraine’s security service who spearheaded its planning, as “a major setback for Russia’s military might.”
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy hailed it as a “masterful operation” deserving of historical recognition, asserting that the action compromised nearly a third of Moscow’s strategic bomber fleet.
On Sunday, Russia launched the largest number of drones—472—against Ukraine since initiating its full-scale invasion in 2022, according to Ukraine’s air force, seemingly attempting to overwhelm air defenses amid escalating strikes on civilian areas.
Prospects for peace seem bleak, as U.S.-driven efforts to broker a ceasefire have faltered, with Ukraine receptive to the notion but the Kremlin obstructive. Recent declarations by senior officials from both nations reveal considerable disunity on essential conditions to cease the conflict.
The previous negotiations on May 16 in Turkey marked the first direct peace discussions since the early stages of Russia’s 2022 invasion. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan lauded the fact that the meeting proceeded amid ongoing intense clashes, seeing it as an achievement in itself.
Zelenskyy announced during a visit to Lithuania on Monday that a new prisoner exchange was being orchestrated following the Istanbul meeting. The May 16 talks had resulted in a prisoner swap, involving 1,000 people on each side.
Zelenskyy noted that during the discussions, Ukraine’s delegation presented a list of nearly 400 abducted children. Russia subsequently suggested addressing up to ten cases of children.
The International Criminal Court had issued arrest warrants in 2023 for Putin and Russia’s commissioner for children’s rights, accusing them of kidnapping Ukrainian children.
Vladimir Medinsky, the head of the Russian delegation, countered by accusing Kyiv of overdramatizing the issue, promising that children would be returned should their parents or guardians be located.
Zelenskyy further disclosed the Russian side’s readiness for a brief ceasefire lasting two to three days to retrieve battlefield corpses, not a complete cessation of conflict.
“This strikes me as foolish, for a ceasefire’s purpose is to prevent deaths initially. Their mindset perceives it merely as a temporary pause,” he quipped during an online briefing.
The unyielding hostilities unfold against U.S. President Donald Trump’s aspiration for a swift resolution to the conflict. Trump expressed dissatisfaction with Putin on social media the preceding week as Moscow subjected Kyiv and other Ukrainian cities to recurrent drone and missile assaults.
Ukraine reveled in the success of its air base strikes. The Russian response remained muted, with minimal coverage on state-controlled media. On Sunday evening, the Russia-1 channel briefly touched on the attacks before shifting focus to drone strikes by Russia against Ukrainian sites.
Zelenskyy asserted that setbacks for Russia would pressure it towards negotiations, even amidst its ongoing summer offensive.
“Russia must comprehend the consequences of its losses, driving it to the bargaining table,” he declared during a meeting in Vilnius, Lithuania, with leaders from NATO’s eastern flank and the Nordic countries.
Ukraine has occasionally targeted air bases storing Russia’s strategic bombers since early in the conflict, prompting their relocation farther from the frontlines.
Given the drones’ launch proximity to the bases in five Russian regions, military defenses had scant preparation time.
Numerous Russian military bloggers criticized deficiencies in protecting bombers despite previous assaults, although securing such large aircraft presents challenges.
The offensive dealt “a significant blow to Russian strategic air power” and laid bare Moscow’s military vulnerabilities, according to Phillips O’Brien, a strategic studies professor at Scotland’s University of St. Andrews.
Edward Lucas, affiliated with the Washington-based Center for European Policy Analysis, labeled it “the war’s most daring attack” and a strategic and military game-changer.
Despite being beleaguered and fatigued, Ukrainians have inflicted considerable damage on Russia’s bomber fleet, said Lucas.
Intense combats endure along the over 1,000-kilometer front line, with both forces carrying out deep territory strikes against each other.
Russian forces shelled Ukraine’s southern Kherson region, resulting in three deaths and 19 injuries, including two children, stated regional officials on Monday.
Furthermore, a missile attack and shelling near the southern city of Zaporizhzhia led to five fatalities and nine injuries, according to officials.