Delegations from Russia and Ukraine will begin a second round of direct talks in just two weeks, although hopes for significant progress in ending the three-year conflict are slim.
The meeting in Istanbul came after a series of serious attacks that took place over the weekend.
Ukraine on Sunday reported a surprise attack on five Russian air bases, targeting facilities both near Moscow and in Russia's Arctic, Siberian and Far Eastern territories.
The targets were more than 4,300 miles from Ukraine.
Ukraine said more than 40 Russian warplanes were destroyed in an operation that President Volodymyr Zelensky called “brilliant.” The operation, planned for more than a year, destroyed or seriously damaged nearly a third of Moscow’s strategic bomber fleet, Ukrainian officials said.
Russia on Sunday carried out the largest number of drone attacks — 472 — on Ukraine since it launched a full-scale invasion in February 2022, the Ukrainian air force said, apparently in an attempt to overwhelm its air defenses.
US attempts to persuade both sides to agree to a ceasefire have been futile. Ukraine has confirmed its readiness, but the Kremlin has effectively rejected the proposal.
The Institute for the Study of War, a Washington-based think tank, noted Sunday evening that “Russia is seeking to prolong the negotiations and the conflict in order to achieve additional gains on the battlefield.”
Sourse: breakingnews.ie
