RUSSIA, UKRAINE TO HOLD TALKS IN ISTANBUL AFTER KYIV’S UNPRECEDENTED DRONE ATTACKS

Mon 02 June 2025:

Russian and Ukrainian delegations are set to hold ceasefire talks in Turkiye’s largest city a day after Kyiv carried out unprecedented drone attacks across Russia. The first round of talks held last month concluded without a breakthrough, but the two sides agreed on a prisoner swap.

In Sunday’s attack, airbases in five Russian regions were targeted, according to Russia’s Defence Ministry. Several fighter jets caught fire in the attacks, the ministry said. Other attacks were repelled and there were no casualties, it said.

This meeting marks the second round of negotiations hosted by Türkiye, following the May 16 session in Istanbul, where the parties agreed to exchange 1,000 prisoners each and outlined their positions on a potential cease-fire. The sides also committed to continuing dialogue in an effort to de-escalate the ongoing conflict.

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Ceasefire

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy wants an immediate and unconditional ceasefire to cover combat on air, sea and land.

Kyiv says meaningful discussions over a long-term peace deal can only happen once fighting has paused.

“First – a full and unconditional ceasefire. Second – the release of prisoners. Third – the return of abducted children,” Zelensky said on Sunday on social media, outlining Kyiv’s priorities for Monday’s talks.

Putin has rejected Ukrainian and Western calls for an immediate ceasefire.

The Kremlin says it does not rule out agreeing some kind of ceasefire at Istanbul, but that talks should address the “root causes” and look to strike a “long-term settlement.”

For Putin, the “root causes” of the conflict are grievances with Kyiv but also the West and NATO over what Russia sees is their expansion into former Soviet or communist countries.

Moscow has demanded strict limits on Ukrainian military activity should any truce be agreed – such as a ban on mobilisation and halt to the flow of Western weapons.

On the status of annexed Ukrainian territories

Russia has repeatedly demanded it retain territory in southern and eastern Ukraine that it occupies and for Kyiv to cede even more land.

Moscow in 2022 annexed four Ukrainian regions – Donetsk, Lugansk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson – despite not having full control over them.

Russia also annexed the Crimean peninsula from Ukraine in 2014.

At a first round of talks last month, Ukraine accused Moscow of repeating those demands and threatening to accelerate a ground offensive into the Sumy and Kharkiv regions, over which Russia has made no formal claim.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has said recognition of Moscow’s ownership of these territories was “imperative” for any negotiations.

Ukraine has said it will never recognise its occupied territories, including Crimea, as Russian.

NATO and security guarantees for Ukraine

Zelenskyy has for months been calling for “security guarantees” for Ukraine to stop Russia invading again.

His top demand would be for Ukraine to be admitted to NATO, or for Ukraine to fall under the military alliance’s Article Five collective defence term.

Trump has however, dismissed the possibility of Ukraine joining the bloc and Russia says NATO membership would be “unacceptable”.

Instead, Kyiv is pushing for some other form of Western military commitment that would deter Moscow.

Britain and France are leading discussions about a possible European troop deployment to enforce any ceasefire, among a group of countries dubbed the “coalition of the willing”.

But Kyiv still wants Washington to back up any “security guarantee”.

Moscow has said it would not accept troops from NATO countries being deployed to Ukraine in any capacity.

SOURCE: INDEPENDENT PRESS AND NEWS AGENCIES

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