Peace talks end in an hour

Ukraine attack on Russian nuclear bombers overshadows peace talks in Turkey

- REUTERS

Peace talks between Russia and Ukraine in Istanbul ended barely an hour after they began Monday, a day after a massive Ukrainian drone attack on Russia's nuclear-capable strategic bombers.

The talks - the second such direct contacts between the sides since 2022 - had already begun nearly two hours later than scheduled with no explanation of the delay.

Although the atmosphere was subdued and dialogue brief, the talks did yield an agreement to conduct a new prisoner exchange and Ukraine said another round of talks was on the agenda.

In Russia, before the talks began, angry war bloggers had called on Moscow to deliver a fearsome retaliatory blow against Kyiv after Ukraine Sunday launched one of its most ambitious attacks of the war, targeting Russian nuclear-capable long-range bombers in Siberia and elsewhere.