Russia-Ukraine peace talks progress despite heavy drone attacks by both sides

Russia and Ukraine agreed to an exchange of prisoners during peace talks on Monday, despite both sides launching severe drone attacks on one another over the weekend.

Meeting for less than an hour, the two sides also agreed to return the war dead and set the stage for further talks, reported Reuters.

During the meeting, Ukraine also presented a list of Ukrainian children allegedly kidnapped by Russians.

The Russian team called the charges “propaganda,” according to Axios.

“Stop throwing around crazy numbers. We will return everyone who is in the Russian Federation,” said the head of the Russian delegation about the kidnapping claims. “There is no kidnapping. Russian soldiers do not kidnap. They only saved them because their lives were at risk.”

The host of the talks, Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, “celebrated the progress” made in the negotiations by inviting Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to meet face-to-face in Ankara or Istanbul, said Newsweek.

Erdogan also invited U.S. President Donald Trump to participate in the direct talks.  

“My greatest wish is to bring together Putin and Zelenskyy in Istanbul or Ankara and even add Trump along,” the Turkish president told the press on Monday, according to Newsweek.  

Despite the agreement on a prisoner swap, progress in an actual peace deal remains elusive.  

Members of the Ukraine delegation said Russia provided a memo with peace negotiation demands, but no details were provided, reported the AP. 

Axios characterized the Russian demands as “usual.” 

Judging by previous statements from Russia, the demands include a written guarantee that NATO will not expand any further eastward, the unfreezing of Russian assets, the lifting of some sanctions, a guarantee of Ukrainian neutrality in the future and protections for Russian speakers in Ukraine. 

Whatever the outcome, the talks are a positive sign after a violent weekend, when both sides inflicted serious losses in a series of drone attacks, which some feared may scuttle the chances for peace. 

Russia conducted what’s believed to be the largest drone attack of the war, involving over 400 vehicles, along with missile strikes, according to the Institute for the Study of War (ISW).  

“Ukrainian forces were notably unable to down any of the three ballistic missiles that Russia launched overnight,” said ISW. “Ukrainian forces have struggled to intercept ballistic missiles due to the limited supply of US-made Patriot air defense systems and interceptors.”  

The attacks killed 12 Ukrainian service members and wounded 60, necessitating the resignation of Ukraine’s ground forces commander. 

But Russia was surprised by Ukraine in a daring raid that reportedly destroyed 41 Russian strategic bombers on runways deep inside the country. 

“[S]ources confirmed that Ukrainian drone operators struck 41 Russian strategic aircraft, including A-50 long-range radar detection aircraft and Tu-95 and Tu-22M3 strategic bombers – fixed-wing aircraft that Russia uses to detect Ukrainian air defenses and launch cruise missiles against Ukraine,” said ISW. “The SBU reported that the operation inflicted roughly $7 billion worth of damage on Russia.”  

It’s estimated that 25% to 40% of Russia’s total strategic bombers were destroyed in the attack. 

Zelenskyy called the raid an “absolutely brilliant result,” which might have antagonized the Russian delegation. 

Others have called it Russia’s “Pearl Harbor” moment. 

In fact, it may be more damaging than Pearl Harbor, where ships and aircraft loss were replaced relatively quickly.  

Because of the long lead times involved in constructing strategic bombers, replacement will take a matter of years, if not decades for Russia. 

“The fact that the meeting took place despite yesterday’s incident is an important success in itself,” said Erdogan in a televised speech, according to the AP.   

Ukraine’s delegation it expects to reconvene as early as June 20 for more talks after considering the Russian memo, said Newsweek.