The China Mail - Russia, Ukraine head to Istanbul for fresh peace talks

USD -
AED 3.672897
AFN 69.589337
ALL 86.196303
AMD 383.860127
ANG 1.789679
AOA 917.508796
ARS 1184.12022
AUD 1.548296
AWG 1.80125
AZN 1.700451
BAM 1.716751
BBD 2.020004
BDT 122.248895
BGN 1.719869
BHD 0.377015
BIF 2978.161263
BMD 1
BND 1.289088
BOB 6.91329
BRL 5.639032
BSD 1.000478
BTN 85.714411
BWP 13.42977
BYN 3.274157
BYR 19600
BZD 2.009647
CAD 1.372498
CDF 2865.000046
CHF 0.823796
CLF 0.024498
CLP 940.110257
CNY 7.204297
CNH 7.19143
COP 4125.87
CRC 509.280187
CUC 1
CUP 26.5
CVE 96.783962
CZK 21.885994
DJF 177.719813
DKK 6.557201
DOP 59.074211
DZD 131.648031
EGP 49.661203
ERN 15
ETB 136.603394
EUR 0.87925
FJD 2.2549
FKP 0.738134
GBP 0.73985
GEL 2.739942
GGP 0.738134
GHS 10.234759
GIP 0.738134
GMD 71.999992
GNF 8671.189952
GTQ 7.683564
GYD 209.312226
HKD 7.84495
HNL 26.067264
HRK 6.625503
HTG 130.971556
HUF 355.165975
IDR 16339.95
ILS 3.52005
IMP 0.738134
INR 85.70785
IQD 1310.60483
IRR 42124.999858
ISK 127.139918
JEP 0.738134
JMD 159.588148
JOD 0.708989
JPY 143.94497
KES 129.250094
KGS 87.449895
KHR 4012.253568
KMF 434.500154
KPW 899.938458
KRW 1378.699529
KWD 0.30675
KYD 0.833699
KZT 512.413814
LAK 21608.858421
LBP 89641.915111
LKR 299.478195
LRD 199.594474
LSL 17.918047
LTL 2.95274
LVL 0.60489
LYD 5.44659
MAD 9.199853
MDL 17.207661
MGA 4546.831043
MKD 54.1036
MMK 2099.400036
MNT 3577.427298
MOP 8.084845
MRU 39.548122
MUR 45.429595
MVR 15.459639
MWK 1734.817929
MXN 19.2405
MYR 4.244959
MZN 63.910064
NAD 17.919148
NGN 1582.249921
NIO 36.813209
NOK 10.158704
NPR 137.144011
NZD 1.666668
OMR 0.384497
PAB 1.000478
PEN 3.622248
PGK 4.110455
PHP 55.690516
PKR 283.16743
PLN 3.758769
PYG 7993.890691
QAR 3.647886
RON 4.446598
RSD 103.055079
RUB 78.966593
RWF 1415.568
SAR 3.750753
SBD 8.350767
SCR 14.728689
SDG 600.502706
SEK 9.620104
SGD 1.289803
SHP 0.785843
SLE 22.720267
SLL 20969.500214
SOS 571.77717
SRD 37.147501
STD 20697.981008
SVC 8.753697
SYP 13001.814997
SZL 17.910828
THB 32.639782
TJS 9.904631
TMT 3.505
TND 2.978113
TOP 2.342101
TRY 39.157502
TTD 6.788647
TWD 30.004024
TZS 2689.999811
UAH 41.553336
UGX 3643.641183
UYU 41.710188
UZS 12840.453265
VES 94.846525
VND 26055
VUV 120.837102
WST 2.761673
XAF 575.774626
XAG 0.028966
XAU 0.000298
XCD 2.70255
XDR 0.712934
XOF 575.759464
XPF 104.682446
YER 243.850281
ZAR 17.8631
ZMK 9001.200507
ZMW 26.862292
ZWL 321.999592
  • CMSC

    0.0500

    22.12

    +0.23%

  • SCS

    0.3300

    10.52

    +3.14%

  • CMSD

    0.0939

    22.16

    +0.42%

  • BP

    -0.0050

    29.56

    -0.02%

  • NGG

    -0.6000

    71.33

    -0.84%

  • GSK

    -1.1950

    40.46

    -2.95%

  • BTI

    0.9500

    46.34

    +2.05%

  • AZN

    -0.1100

    71.82

    -0.15%

  • RIO

    -0.7300

    58.85

    -1.24%

  • RBGPF

    -1.5000

    67.5

    -2.22%

  • RELX

    -0.5200

    54.06

    -0.96%

  • JRI

    0.0440

    12.96

    +0.34%

  • RYCEF

    0.1550

    12.035

    +1.29%

  • BCE

    -0.3400

    21.94

    -1.55%

  • BCC

    2.5000

    87.6

    +2.85%

  • VOD

    -0.1000

    10.3

    -0.97%

Russia, Ukraine head to Istanbul for fresh peace talks
Russia, Ukraine head to Istanbul for fresh peace talks / Photo: © TURKISH FOREIGN MINISTRY/AFP

Russia, Ukraine head to Istanbul for fresh peace talks

Russian and Ukrainian officials will meet Monday in Istanbul to exchange their plans for how to end the three-year war, Europe's largest conflict since World War II, after Kyiv says it struck dozens of strategic bombers parked at airbases deep in Russia.

Text size:

Urged on by US President Donald Trump, Moscow and Kyiv have opened direct negotiations for the first time since the early weeks of Russia's invasion but have yet to make significant progress towards an elusive agreement.

Monday's talks come a day after Ukraine carried out one of its most brazen and successful attacks ever on Russian soil -- hitting dozens of strategic bombers parked at airbases thousands of kilometres behind the front line.

At the first round of talks in Istanbul last month, they agreed a large-scale prisoner exchange and to swap notes on what their vision of a peace deal might look like.

The second set of negotiations is scheduled to get underway at 1:00 pm (1000 GMT) at the Ciragan Palace in Istanbul, an Ottoman imperial house on the banks of the Bosphorus that is now a luxury five-star hotel.

Russia says it will present a "memorandum" of its peace terms, having resisted pressure by Ukraine to send its demands in advance.

Despite the flurry of diplomacy, the two sides remain far apart over a possible deal -- either for a truce or longer-term settlement.

Outlining Kyiv's position ahead of the talks, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky refreshed his call for an immediate halt to the fighting.

"First –- a full and unconditional ceasefire. Second –- the release of prisoners. Third -– the return of abducted children," he said Sunday in a post on social media.

He also called for the sides to discuss a direct meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

"The key issues can only be resolved by the leaders," Zelensky said.

The Kremlin has repeatedly pushed back on that prospect, saying a Putin-Zelensky meeting could only happen after the negotiating delegations reach wider "agreements".

Russia has questioned Zelensky's legitimacy throughout the war and repeatedly called for him to be toppled.

Moscow says it wants to address the "root causes" of the conflict -- language typically used to refer to a mix of sweeping demands including limiting Ukraine's military, banning the country from joining NATO and massive territorial concessions.

Kyiv and the West have rejected those calls and cast Russia's assault as nothing but an imperialist land grab.

Tens of thousands have been killed since Russia invaded, with swathes of eastern and southern Ukraine destroyed and millions forced to flee their homes.

- War rages on -

Russia's top negotiator in Istanbul will be Vladimir Medinsky, an ideological Putin aide who led failed talks in 2022, has written school textbooks justifying the invasion and questioned Ukraine's right to exist.

Ukraine's team will be led by Defence Minister Rustem Umerov, seen as a skilled and pragmatic negotiator, but who has been mired in domestic scandal over alleged abuse of power and a lack of transparency.

"Diplomatic advisors" from Germany, France and Britain will be "on the ground... in close coordination with the Ukrainian negotiating team," a German government spokesperson said Sunday.

Ukraine on Sunday said it had damaged some 40 strategic Russian bombers, worth $7 billion, in a major special operation after months of setbacks for Kyiv's military.

Kyiv's security service said the plan, 18 months in the making, had involved smuggling drones into Russia which were then launched from near the airbases, thousands of kilometres away from the front lines.

Russian troops have meanwhile been advancing on the ground, particularly in the northeastern Sumy region, where Putin ordered his forces to establish a "buffer zone" along the border.

Ballistic strikes in the northeastern Kharkiv region on Monday injured at least six people, including a seven-year-old, and damaged a civilian business and a warehouse, Kharkiv Governor Oleg Synegubov said on Monday.

Ahead of the talks, Russian officials have called for Ukraine to be cut off from Western military support and cede territory still controlled by its army.

Ukraine has pushed Russia to agree a full, unconditional and immediate ceasefire -- saying a pause in the fighting is necessary to then discuss what a long-term settlement could look like.

Kyiv has refused to formally give up the one-fifth of its territory controlled by Russia, though it has accepted that it may only be able to get some land back through diplomacy, not fighting.

It also wants concrete Western-backed security guarantees -- like NATO protections or Western troops on the ground -- that have also been ruled out by Russia.

L.Kwan--ThChM