Third round of Moscow-Kyiv talks in Istanbul may be held by late June, Russian official says

The third round of negotiations between the Russian and Ukrainian delegations is expected to take place by the end of June in Istanbul, said Leonid Slutsky, Chairman of the Russian State Duma Committee on International Affairs.

“Progress toward a sustainable ceasefire will be one of the key issues at the third round. Most likely, it will take place there again, in Istanbul, at the end of the month,” Slutsky said, Caliber.Az reports, citing Russian media.

He also noted that the Ukrainian side has limited time to carefully review Russia’s conditions and respond positively: “The Ukrainian side has time — though not much — to study our conditions and come to an agreement.”

To recall, the second round of peace talks between Ukraine and Russia took place in Istanbul on June 2, but concluded with limited progress. The discussions, held at Istanbul’s Çırağan Palace, lasted under two hours and primarily addressed humanitarian issues.

Both sides agreed to an exchange involving at least 1,000 prisoners of war each, focusing on severely wounded and young captives aged 18 to 25. Additionally, they consented to return the remains of approximately 6,000 soldiers killed in combat.

Ukraine urged the return of nearly 400 abducted children, but Russia agreed to work on returning only ten.

Despite these agreements, there was no consensus on a ceasefire. Russia proposed a conditional ceasefire requiring Ukraine to withdraw from four occupied regions, a demand Kyiv finds unacceptable. Ukrainian officials rejected this proposal, emphasising the need for an unconditional ceasefire to facilitate broader peace negotiations.

The talks were held amid escalating military actions. Ukraine recently launched "Operation Spiderweb," a covert drone strike that damaged or destroyed over 40 Russian aircraft, including strategic bombers, causing significant losses. In response, Russia intensified missile and drone attacks on Ukrainian civilian targets.

By Khagan Isayev