The second round of peace talks in Istanbul between Russia and Ukraine concluded Monday in the Turkish metropolis with the largest prisoner-of-war exchange to date but no significant progress towards an end to the conflict, with both sides presenting their respective demands for a ceasefire only a day after Ukraine dealt a major blow to Russian air forces by destroying more than 40 Russian strategic bombers (between 30% and 50% of the total), capable of delivering missiles and nuclear warheads and vital to its deterrent capability, in a multiple drone strike.
The Russian and Ukrainian delegations ended today’s meeting – which had started at least two hours late for undisclosed reasons – confirming that negotiations would not continue into the afternoon. According to numerous international media reports, in this new round of contacts the two sides reportedly agreed to exchange some 6,000 prisoners of war and bodies of soldiers killed in combat, the largest of its kind to date.
Russia also reported that the two delegations had exchanged their respective peace memoranda, which include the terms required for a lasting ceasefire, whose details have not been disclosed although Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has already said that Moscow is demanding an end to NATO’s eastward enlargement, Ukraine’s exclusion from the Atlantic Alliance and Ukraine’s withdrawal from the four oblasts (regions) claimed by the Kremlin: Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia.
The representatives sent by Kiev – which is demanding an unconditional ceasefire as a first step towards peace negotiations – reportedly proposed today in Istanbul to hold a new meeting at the end of June, to which the Russian delegation has so far not committed itself. While the very fact that this meeting took place one day after yesterday’s massive attack by the Ukrainian army on several air bases across Russia can be considered a gesture by the Kremlin, it has become clear that both sides are still far from finding common ground for peace, and for now not even for declaring a temporary cessation of hostilities.
Despite the relative brevity of the new meeting held today in Istanbul under Turkish mediation, Turkish President Tayyip Erdoğan insisted that he considered it ‘a great success’ precisely because it was held ‘despite yesterday’s incident’. ‘Istanbul’s role in the negotiations between Russia and Ukraine has been of critical importance. It has been a turning point,’ said Erdoğan, who once again insisted on the proposal that Istanbul or Ankara host a meeting between Zelensky, Putin and Trump, with himself as host.
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Pablo Gómez is a specialist in Turkey and has been editor-in-chief of Hispanatolia since 2011. He has been analysing current affairs and geopolitics in Turkey and the surrounding region since 2006.
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