Delegations from Ukraine and Russia have concluded their latest peace talks in Turkey, which lasted just over an hour, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Russian state media reported.
In his speech in Vilnius, Lithuania, Mr. Zelensky noted that both sides “exchanged documents through Turkey’s mediation, and we are preparing a new release of prisoners of war.”
Expectations of any significant breakthrough in ending the three-year conflict have been tempered following a recent series of attacks over the weekend.
Kyiv officials said Sunday's surprise drone strike damaged or destroyed more than 40 warplanes at air bases deep in Russia, including in remote regions of the Arctic, Siberia and the Far East more than 4,300 miles from Ukraine.
The complex operation, which took place simultaneously in three time zones, was prepared over a period of more than a year and a half and was a “serious blow to Russia’s military power,” said Vasyl Malyuk, the head of Ukraine’s Security Service, which planned the operation.
Mr Zelensky described it as a “brilliant operation” that would go down in history. According to Ukrainian officials, it destroyed or seriously damaged almost a third of Moscow’s strategic bomber fleet.
Russia on Sunday carried out the largest number of drone strikes — 472 — in Ukraine since the start of its full-scale invasion in 2022, according to the Ukrainian Air Force, in an apparent attempt to suppress its air defenses. It was part of a recently intensified campaign of strikes against civilian targets in Ukraine.
In Lithuania, Mr Zelensky noted that a new release of prisoners of war was being prepared after the meeting in Istanbul. The previous direct talks on May 16 also ended with a prisoner exchange, during which 1,000 people were handed over from both sides.
Ukraine has also provided Russia with an official list of children it says were forcibly deported and should be returned, according to Andriy Yermak, head of Zelensky's office.
Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan chaired the peace talks at the Ciragan Palace in Istanbul.
He said the aim of the talks was to discuss the terms of a ceasefire between both sides, adding that “the world's attention is focused on the contacts and discussions you will have here.”
US efforts to push both sides to reach a ceasefire agreement have so far failed. Ukraine has accepted the move, but the Kremlin has effectively rejected it.
The Ukrainian delegation was headed by Defense Minister Rustem Umerov, and the Russian team was led by Russian President Vladimir Putin's aide Vladimir
Sourse: breakingnews.ie
