Russia, Ukraine set for round 2 of peace talks in Turkey; US warns Putin ‘is preparing for more war'
Russia and Ukraine are due to sit down for peace talks on Monday in Turkey's Istanbul for their second round of direct peace talks since 2022, a day after 40 Russian planes were destroyed by a Ukrainian drone attack. Meanwhile, Moscow also pounded Ukraine with missiles and drones.
Russian President Vladimir Putin is stalling at the peace table while preparing a new military offensive in Ukraine, two senior US senators warned Sunday, arguing that the next two weeks could shape the future of a war that has already smashed cities, displaced millions and redrawn Europe's security map, an AP report said.
The first round of talks on May 16 yielded the biggest prisoner swap of the war but no sign of peace - or even a ceasefire as both sides merely set out their own opening negotiating positions, a Reuters report said. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Defence Minister Rustem Umerov would meet with Russian officials in Istanbul, according to a Reuters report.
The Russian delegation will be headed by Kremlin aide Vladimir Medinsky, who after the first round invoked French general and statesman Napoleon Bonaparte to assert that war and negotiations should always be conducted at the same time. On Sunday, Ukraine launched one of its most ambitious attacks of the war, targeting Russian nuclear-capable long-range bombers in Siberia and other military bases, the report said. A military official, who spoke with The Associated Press on condition of anonymity to disclose operational details, said the far-reaching attack took more than a year and a half to execute and was personally supervised by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Explosions caused two bridges to collapse and derailed two trains in western Russia overnight, officials said Sunday, without saying what had caused the blasts. In one of the incidents, seven people were killed and dozens were injured, the AP report said.
(This is a developing story. Please check back for updates)
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