JAKARTA - The second round of peace negotiations between Russia and Ukraine ended just one hour after starting in Istanbul on Monday.
Negotiations came a day after a Ukrainian drone strike on a nuclear-capable Russian strategic bomber.
As reported by Reuters on Monday, June 2, negotiations - the second direct contact between the two sides since 2022 - began nearly two hours later than scheduled without explanation of the delay.
The atmosphere in Russia heated up as negotiations began, with a number of war bloggers urging Moscow to launch a terrible counter-attack on Kyiv.
Ukraine on Sunday launched an attack targeting Russian long-range bombers with nuclear capabilities in Siberia and elsewhere.
Ukraine and Russia have issued very different statements about the damage to the Russian nuclear-capable bomber fleet - a key element in its nuclear arsenal - but clear from the satellite imagery available to the public Moscow has suffered some serious equipment losses.
"The eyes of the whole world are focused on contact here," Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan told the Russian and Ukrainian delegations as they faced each other on the opposite side of the room at the luxurious Ciragan Palace near Bosphorus.
He said the purpose of the meeting was to evaluate the ceasefire conditions, to discuss possible meetings between the presidents of Russia and Ukraine, and to see more opportunities for prisoner swaps.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, speaking in Lithuania, said the two sides were preparing to exchange new prisoners of war.
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His chief of staff also said the Ukrainian delegation had submitted a list of children who were deported to Russia during Monday's talks that Ukraine wanted to return to their homeland.
Ukrainian officials said hundreds of children were forcibly removed from Ukrainian territory by Russian forces, and they wanted the children returned as part of a peace agreement.
Moscow said the children were moved to protect them from fighting.
Both sides are expected to discuss their own very different ideas about what a full ceasefire will look like and a long-term path to peace amid pressure from US President Donald Trump, who said the US could abandon its role as a mediator if there was no progress.
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