Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said the second round of talks between Russia and Ukraine in Istanbul will include discussions on a ceasefire and prisoner exchanges.
“I would like to thank you all once again for the results-oriented and constructive approach you demonstrated at the first meeting on May 16. The sides took very important steps, with an exchange of thousands of people completed in a short time. As promised, both sides defined their positions on a ceasefire and the next steps. As agreed, they came together today and demonstrated their will to mutually assess the positions. At today’s meeting, we intend to continue assessing the conditions and prospects for a ceasefire. At the same time, we intend to move forward on the issue of exchanging prisoners of war, including out of humanitarian considerations,” he said during an opening speech before the start of the talks.
“Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan maintains regilar communication with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky,” Fidan said. “At the direction of our president, we had trips to Moscow and Kiev last week, which provided an opportunity to prepare for today’s meeting. We discussed this issue [settlement prospects] sincerely and in detail with both sides.”
He expressed hope that both sides “will benefit from the communication and achieve concrete results that will bring everyone closer to peace.”
“I hope that your talks will bring good results for the peoples of Ukraine and Russia,” Fidan said.
Ukraine drones strike bombers during major attack in Russia
Ukraine said it completed its biggest long-range attack of the war with Russia on Sunday, after using smuggled drones to launch a series of major strikes on at least 40 Russian warplanes at four military bases.
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 told BBC News it took a year-and-a-half to organise the strikes.
