The second round of the ceasefire negotiation talks between Moscow and Kyiv ended with both sides agreeing to swap more prisoners in the coming days, reports said citing officials.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said that both the sides will work on a new prisoner exchange. The first round of talks held last month ended without a breakthrough, but the two sides had agreed on a prisoner swap. Reflecting upon the developments taking place in the talks, Turkiye’s foreign ministry spokesperson says the talks “didn’t end negatively." The negotiations took place on Monday as the two sides have escalated attacks in recent days.
As expected, Russia and Ukraine did not achieve anything “major during the talks", said a Ukrainian official who was present at the meeting. Ukraine on Sunday carried out one of the biggest drone attacks on Russia, in which 12 Russian soldiers were killed in the Dnipro region. Ukraine also hit five Russian regions in a large-scale operation on Sunday, according to Russia’s Defence Ministry. At least 13 fighter jets were destroyed in the attacks, Ukraine claimed. Earlier, Zelensky called the attacks “absolutely brilliant."
“Russia must feel what its losses mean. That is what will push it toward diplomacy,” he said Monday in Vilnius, Lithuania, meeting with leaders from the Nordic nations and countries on NATO’s eastern flank. Meanwhile, two US senators, Lindsey Graham and Richard Blumenthal, have warned that Vladimir Putin is planning another offensive against Ukraine, and today's meeting was just aimed at fulfilling its responsibility.
Also Read: Zelenskyy says Russian drone raid took 18 months to plan
They said the picture will only clear after Russia prepares its response against the Ukrainian side. Western experts have also predicted tough days for the Ukrainian forces, while they describe Sunday’s attack as the Kyiv regime shooting itself in the foot with the drone attack. Additionally, US lawmakers said a sweeping US sanctions bill could be the West’s last chance to choke off the Kremlin’s war economy, they said, adding that they hope their first-hand findings will shift momentum in the US and help bring a sceptical Trump on board.
“What I learnt on this trip was he’s preparing for more war,” Graham said of Putin. “The world has a lot of cards to play against Putin,” he said. “We’re going to hit China and India for propping up his war machine.” Blumenthal called the sanctions proposed in legislation “bone-crushing” and said it would place Russia’s economy “on a trade island."
“It is crunch time for Putin and for the world because Russia is mounting a new offensive,” he said. While the US is preparing to sanction Russia, India, and China, Moscow and Kyiv have agreed to swap all seriously ill and prisoners of war who are under 25 years old. Moscow continues to reject the idea of an unconditional ceasefire. Ukraine proposed holding a meeting by the end of June to make progress. Ukraine could not react to Russian proposals in Istanbul because Kyiv only received them today. Furthermore, responding to what Ukraine did on Sunday, Russian lawmakers have warned of severe responses against the Ukrainian armed forces, who are already on the receiving end of this war.
“Our response will be as harsh as Russia does against terrorists; those responsible for drone strikes and bridge collapses will be punished,” said a Russian lawmaker. The talks have ended with no meaningful conclusion on ceasing the hostilities, as Ukrainian forces feel upbeat after Sunday’s drone attack. Experts point out that Russia was deliberately prolonging the conflict as it gave them chances to make more territorial gains they could use as leverage during the ceasefire talks.
Follow us
