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Peace talks between Ukraine and Russia have once again resulted in no substantial changes. Moscow has refused to support a ceasefire despite pressure from President Trump.
The second round of peace talks between Ukraine and Russia in Turkey once again did not yield any ceasefire results on Monday and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy reiterated his demand that Russian President Vladimir Putin « must not receive any reward for [his] war. »
Despite an apparent memorandum of terms given to Ukraine by the Russian delegation, Moscow once again refused to agree to an unconditional ceasefire defined by a U.S. proposal and already agreed to by Kyiv.
Following the talks – which appeared to last for less than three hours, though some reporting noted they lasted for less than one hour – the head of the Ukrainian delegation in Istanbul, Defense Minister Rustem Umerov, said his Russian counterparts not only refused ceasefire terms, but also to a meeting between Zelenskyy and Putin.
There may be another reason the Russians are in a particularly bad mood today. On Sunday, Ukraine carried out an attack on Russian airbases that had been planned for more than a year. The plan involved sneaking armed drones into Russia by truck and then unleashing the drones near several airbases spread across the country.
President Volodymyr Zelensky said 117 drones were used in the so-called « Spider’s Web » operation by the SBU security service, striking « 34% of [Russia’s] strategic cruise missile carriers ».
SBU sources earlier told BBC News that Sunday’s attack involved drones hidden in wooden mobile cabins, with remotely operated roofs on trucks, brought near the airbases and then fired « at the right time ».
