Ukraine, Russia Hold Second Round of Peace Talks in Turkey After Launching Major Attacks

Delegations from Russia and Ukraine met in Turkey on Monday for the second round of direct peace talks in just over two weeks, although expectations were low for any significant progress on ending the three-year war after a string of stunning attacks over the weekend.

- Associated Press

ISTANBUL:

The Ukrainian delegation was led by defense minister Rustem Umerov, officials said. Vladimir Medinsky, an aide to Russian leader Vladimir Putin, headed the Kremlin team, Russian state media reported.

Turkish foreign minister Hakan Fidan chaired the talks at the city's Ciragan Palace. Recent comments by senior officials in both countries indicate they remain far apart on the key conditions for stopping the war.

Attacks over the weekend Ukraine said on Sunday it launched a spectacular surprise attack on four Russian airbases thousands of kilometers apart, destroying more than 40 warplanes. The raid was unprecedented in its scope and geographic reach, targeting bases in Russia's Arctic, Siberia and Far East more than 7,000 km from Ukraine.

The head of the Ukrainian security service, Vasyl Maliuk, said the drones struck simultaneously in three time zones and the complex logistics took over a year and a half to prepare.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called it a "brilliant operation." Meanwhile, Russia on Sunday fired the biggest number of drones—472, Ukraine's air force said, in an apparent effort to overwhelm air defenses. That was part of a recently escalating campaign of strikes in civilian areas of Ukraine.