Kremlin: Major breakthroughs unlikely in Russia-Ukraine talks, but key deals reached

The Kremlin has said it would be unrealistic to expect significant breakthroughs during the second round of negotiations between Russia and Ukraine, but stressed that important agreements have nonetheless been made.

President Vladimir Putin’s press secretary Dmitry Peskov described the conflict resolution process as “extremely complex,” Caliber.Az reports, citing Russian media.

“Russia is awaiting a response to its draft memorandum on resolving the situation in Ukraine,” Peskov stated.

He added that any possible compromises from Russia regarding the memorandum’s points remain subject to confidential negotiations and cannot be discussed publicly.

The draft memorandum aims to address the root causes of the conflict in Ukraine and secure a sustainable resolution, Peskov explained.

When asked about the possibility of a meeting between Vladimir Putin, Donald Trump, and Volodymyr Zelenskyy shortly, Peskov said such contact was unlikely at this stage and would depend on technical agreements being reached first.

To recall, on June 2, 2025, Russian and Ukrainian delegations met in Istanbul for a second round of peace talks, which ended in under two hours without a ceasefire agreement. Both sides agreed only to exchange prisoners of war and repatriate fallen soldiers' remains.

Ukraine proposed a 30-day ceasefire backed by the US, but Russia rejected it, offering a limited three-day ceasefire for the prisoner exchange instead, while demanding Ukraine’s demilitarisation and recognition of Russian-held territories.

A dispute arose over the return of abducted children, with Ukraine seeking the release of around 400, but Russia agreeing to discuss only ten. The talks took place amid intensified fighting, including Ukraine’s Operation Spider’s Web damaging 41 Russian aircraft and Russia’s largest missile and drone attack to date.

Turkish President Erdoğan is considering hosting a summit with Presidents Zelenskyy, Putin, and Trump, while Ukraine hopes for further talks between June 20 and 30 to enable direct leader negotiations.

By Aghakazim Guliyev