Will Peace Talks in Istanbul Bring an End to the Ukraine-Russia Conflict?
Peace Negotiations Resume in Istanbul
On Monday, delegations from Russia and Ukraine convened in Istanbul for their second round of direct peace discussions in a fortnight, although hopes for substantial advancements in resolving the ongoing three-year conflict remain low.
The Ukrainian team, led by Defence Minister Rustem Umerov, arrived in Istanbul for the negotiations, as confirmed by Heorhii Tykhyi, spokesperson for the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry, through a message shared on the Ukrainian Embassy's WhatsApp group.
The Russian delegation, headed by Vladimir Medinsky, an aide to President Vladimir Putin, was reported to have arrived on Sunday evening, according to Russian state media.
Turkish officials announced that the talks were set to commence at 1 PM local time, with Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan overseeing the discussions, alongside representatives from the Turkish intelligence agency.
However, Tykhyi indicated that the meeting would actually begin at noon local time, creating a discrepancy that was not immediately clarified.
Recent statements from high-ranking officials in both nations suggest that they remain significantly divided on the essential terms for halting the conflict. Meanwhile, intense fighting persists along the approximately 1,000-kilometer (620-mile) front line, with both sides conducting deep strikes into each other's territories.
On Sunday, Ukraine's Security Service reported that a drone strike by Ukraine destroyed over 40 Russian aircraft deep within Russian territory, while Moscow retaliated with missile and drone attacks on Ukraine.
Russian air defenses claimed to have intercepted 162 Ukrainian drones across eight regions overnight, as well as over the annexed Crimean Peninsula, according to the Russian Defence Ministry.
Conversely, the Ukrainian air force reported that their defenses managed to damage 52 out of 80 drones launched by Russia during the same period.
In Kharkiv, a northeastern Ukrainian city, two ballistic missiles struck a residential area on Monday morning, one landing near a school, as stated by the city's mayor.
One missile impacted close to an apartment complex, while the other hit a road adjacent to the school, with Mayor Ihor Terekhov releasing a statement and a photo showing a large crater.
Terekhov remarked, “Standing next to the crater, you realize how different it all could have been. A few more meters — and it would have hit the building. A few more minutes — and cars, buses would have been on the road.”