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The head of the Russian delegation accused Ukraine of "putting on a show" during Monday's peace talks, after Kyiv negotiators demanded the return of hundreds of children abducted during the war, according to an Ukrainian official.
Ukrainian delegates had given their Russian counterparts a list of children they wanted returned during the talks in Istanbul, Ukraine's lead negotiator Rustem Umerov said.
"This matter is a fundamental priority for us: If Russia is genuinely committed to a peace process, the return of at least half the children on this list is positive," Umerov added.
However, Vladimir Medinsky, a senior Putin aide and negotiator, dismissed the demands during the meeting, a Ukrainian official told The Telegraph, saying, "Do not put on a show for European tender-hearted aunties who do not have children themselves."
What To Know
- Medinsky later told Russian state media that Moscow were preparing to reunite ten children with their parents, but denied that any child had ever been "abducted" and instead said that "children were saved by our soldiers amid shelling attacks."
- Ukraine says it has identified more than 19,500 children forcibly deported to Russia, Belarus, or Russian-occupied territories since the war began, according to Kyiv Independent.
- Russia and Ukraine agreed to a new prisoner exchange during their peace talks which will include severely wounded prisoners of war, prisoners aged 18 to 25, and the bodies of fallen soldiers. The numbers are not yet clear.
- While Russia agreed to a prisoner exchanger, it rejected proposals for an unconditional ceasefire said Kyiv negotiator, Sergiy Kyslytsya.
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Jun 02, 2025 at 05:00 PM EDT
Steve Bannon says Lindsey Graham should be arrested over Ukraine support
Former White House chief strategist Steve Bannon railed against Republican Senator Lindsey Graham over Graham's support for a flurry of drone strikes Ukraine launched over the weekend that battered Russia's strategic aviation capabilities.
The scale and sophistication of Ukraine's strikes were unprecedented and could have far-reaching geopolitical consequences. Kyiv said its attack took out about 40, or one-third, of Russia's strategic bombers, though Moscow has said only several of its warplanes were struck.
Graham, who visited Ukraine on Friday along with Democratic Senator Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut, praised the strikes on Sunday, calling Kyiv "ever-resourceful."
"The ever-resourceful Ukraine used creative drone warfare tactics to successfully attack Russian bombers and military assets used to kill Ukrainian citizens and destroy their country," the South Carolina senator posted on X, formerly Twitter.
Read in full from Sonam Sheth on Newsweek.
Jun 02, 2025 at 04:53 PM EDT
IN PICTURES: Russia, Ukraine delegations at the Istanbul peace talks Monday
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Jun 02, 2025 at 04:25 PM EDT
Zelensky meets with European leaders to urge them to strengthen defense
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has warned that "as long as there are no meaningful signals from Russia about ending the war, it is crucial to strengthen our defense."
Zelensky met with the President of Lithuania, Gitanas Nauseda, to discuss the peace negotiations.
"I informed him about the second round of negotiations that took place today in Istanbul," Zelensky said in a post on X, formerly Twitter. "As long as there are no meaningful signals from Russia about ending the war, it is crucial to strengthen our defense and especially to invest in Ukrainian production.
"This is the foundation for peace talks. Thank you, Gitanas, and the Lithuanian people, for sharing this view."
He added that they had discussed further sanctions on Russia.
During a meeting with the Polish president earlier today, he also discussed keeping pressure on Russia and diplomatic efforts.
Jun 02, 2025 at 04:07 PM EDT
Head of Ukraine, Russia delegations met privately before peace talks
The head of the Russian delegation says he met privately with Ukraine's defense minister ahead of the peace talks in Istanbul today.
Medinsky told Russia's TASS news agency that the meeting helped pave the way for the talks which resulted in an agreement for a second prisoner exchange.
Jun 02, 2025 at 03:37 PM EDT
What ‘Russia’s Pearl Harbor’ says about Trump’s Golden Dome
Almost like it was a premonition, military analyst Max Boot warned in a Saturday Washington Post op-ed that the future of warfare wouldn't be fought with massive space-based missile shields, but with swarms of cheap, expendable drones.
Less than 24 hours later, Ukraine delivered the proof.
In the early hours of Sunday morning, Ukraine's intelligence service launched Operation Spiderweb—a coordinated drone strike on five Russian air bases, including two located deep in Siberia, thousands of miles from the Ukrainian border. The drones, smuggled inside wooden cabins on tractor-trailers and deployed remotely, reportedly disabled or destroyed up to a third of Russia's long-range bomber fleet.
Some military commentators compared it to another infamous Sunday surprise—Japan's 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor. Russian officials rejected the analogy, insisting the damage was far less severe than Ukraine claimed. Also unlike the Japanese surprise attack on the U.S. Pacific Fleet, Ukraine was already in a defensive war with Russia.
Read in full from Jesus Mesa on Newsweek.
Jun 02, 2025 at 03:07 PM EDT
WATCH: Mediator gives update on Russia-Ukraine talks
Jun 02, 2025 at 02:50 PM EDT
Russia doesn’t want ceasefire: Zelenskyy aide
Russia does not want a ceasefire, Volodymyr Zelensky's chief of staff said today, following the peace talks in Istanbul.
Andriy Yermak warned, in a post on X, formerly Twitter, that the Russians "are doing everything they can to avoid a ceasefire and continue the war."
Yermak's comments came after the Russian delegation refused Ukraine's proposal for an unconditional ceasefire during the talks.
He added that sanctions are "critically important right now" in pushing Russia to end the war.
Jun 02, 2025 at 02:38 PM EDT
WATCH: Ukraine and Russia agree on prisoner swap deal
Jun 02, 2025 at 02:27 PM EDT
Russia negotiators offered two ceasefire options during talks, says Russia state media
Russian negotiators put forward two proposals for a ceasefire during the talks in Istanbul, Russian state media said on Monday.
The first would require Ukraine to completely withdraw its forces from the four Ukrainian regions that Russia annexed in 2022. They include Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson, and Zaporizhzhia oblasts.
The second option would be a "package" deal that contained several conditions, although the terms are unclear.
Chief Russian negotiator Vladimir Medinsky told journalists the steps towards a full ceasefire included a potential "ceasefire for two to three days in certain areas.
Jun 02, 2025 at 02:04 PM EDT
Trump ‘open’ to meeting Putin and Zelenskyy in Turkey: White House
The White House said that President Donald Trump is "open" to attending Ukraine-Russia peace talks hosted by Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.
Erdogen has invited Russian President Vladimir Putin, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, and Trump to peace talks in Turkey, following today's negotiations in Istanbul.
"The president has said he's open to it if it comes to that," White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in response to the invitation, "but he wants both of these leaders and both sides to come to the table together."
Jun 02, 2025 at 12:39 PM EDT
Erdogan offers to host Putin, Zelensky, Trump in Turkey for peace talks
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan celebrated the progress made at toady's Ukraine-Russia peace talks, and has offered to host a meeting between Russia's Putin, Ukraine's Zelensky and President Trump for the next negotiations.
"My greatest wish is to bring together Putin and Zelenskyy in Istanbul or Ankara and even add Trump along," he told the press on Monday.
"If they accept, I also would like to join them in this meeting," the Turkish president added.
Jun 02, 2025 at 12:03 PM EDT
Operation Spiderweb: How Ukraine’s daring top secret drone assault unfolded
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As few as five people knew about Ukraine's audacious plans to attack thousands of miles into Russian territory as they were first formulated, suggested Ivan Stupak, a former officer in Ukraine's SBU security service.
More than a year and a half later, Kyiv succeeded in carrying out what could be its most dramatic, highly coordinated drone assaults on Russia of the war.
Ukraine on Sunday hit 41 of Russia's expensive, hard-to-replace warplanes in a meticulously timed operation across three different time zones, thousands of miles away from Ukrainian soil, officials said. Andriy Kovalenko, an official with Kyiv's national security and defense council, said on Monday that 13 Russian aircraft had been "destroyed."
The drones were smuggled across the border, placed in wooden containers with removable roofs fixed on trucks.
Read in full from Ellie Cook on Newsweek.
Jun 02, 2025 at 11:51 AM EDT
Russia offered limited, 2-3 day ceasefire, says negotiator
Russia offered a limited, two to three day ceasefire in certain areas of the frontline, Moscow's top negotiator Vladimir Medinsky said.
His comments come after Ukraine's negotiator said that Moscow had rejected its proposals for a full ceasefire.
"We have proposed a specific ceasefire for two to three days in certain areas of the front line," Medinsky said.
He added that Russia wanted the short truce to allow commanders to "collect the bodies of their soldiers."
Jun 02, 2025 at 11:44 AM EDT
Russia only provided memo of demands during talks, says Ukraine official
Ukraine's lead negotiator Rustem Umerov, and deputy foreign minister Sergiy Kyslytsya, told reporters on Monday that Russian negotiators had only provided a memo outlining their demands during the peace talks, rather than ahead of the meeting as they had requested.
"We could not react to the Russian proposals as they were literally only advanced during the meeting. Nevertheless we manage to construct our conversation in a way that we can have a tangible humanitarian outcome," Kyslytsya said.
"The Russian side continues to reject the notion of an unconditional ceasefire, the same one the president of the United States offered a while ago."
Jun 02, 2025 at 11:42 AM EDT
Kyiv agrees to return bodies of 6,000 fallen soldiers, demands return of Ukrainian children
Ukraine's lead negotiator Rustem Umerov told reporters after the peace talks in Istanbul that Ukraine has agreed to return 6,000 bodies of fallen soldiers.
Umerov said that Ukraine had also provided Russian negotiators a list of Ukrainian children that had been abducted to Russian territory during the war, that they wanted returned.
"This matter is a fundamental priority for us: If Russia is genuinely committed to a peace process, the return of at least half the children on this list is positive," Umerov said.
He said they want a release of "all prisoners and all abducted children" in an "all for all" exchange, rather than focusing on numbers.
Ukraine was also "insisting on a full and unconditional end to the killing now: An unconditional ceasefire, meaning air, sea and land for at least 30 days. This demand has been unchanged for three months and we consider it the basis of a peaceful resolution," he added.
Jun 02, 2025 at 11:08 AM EDT
Russia rejected unconditional ceasefire, says Ukraine negotiator
Russia rejected proposals for an unconditional ceasefire during today's peace talks in Istanbul, according to Kyiv negotiator, Sergiy Kyslytsya.
"The Russian side continued to reject the motion of an unconditional ceasefire," Kyslytsya told reporters on Monday.
Moscow has frequently rejected extended ceasefire proposals, arguing they would give Ukraine time to rearm, as Russia is advancing.
Jun 02, 2025 at 11:04 AM EDT
Ukraine proposes third round of peace talks within weeks
Ukraine has proposed a third round of peace talks with Russia before the end of June.
"We propose to the Russian side to hold a meeting by the end of this month, from 20th to 30th of June," Ukrainian defense minister Rustem Umerov said after today's talks in Istanbul.
Umerov said that the delegations should push for a meeting between Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Vladimir Putin.
Jun 02, 2025 at 10:49 AM EDT
How Putin might respond to ‘Russia’s Pearl Harbor’
Ukrainian drone strikes against air bases deep inside Russia are grounds for a nuclear response, a Kremlin-backed newspaper has reported amid anticipation over what Moscow will do after what has been described as the country's "Pearl Harbor."
The comments by Russian political analyst Sergei Markov to Moskovsky Komsomolets followed the revelation from Ukraine's Security Service (SBU) that its drone operation had struck four air bases and 41 strategic bombers, inflicting $7 billion worth of damage.
While his remarks do not reflect the Kremlin's position, eyes will be on Moscow's response as Russian and Ukrainian delegations meet in Istanbul on Monday to discuss how to end the war started by Vladimir Putin.
"We can expect a great deal of sound and fury from Moscow," Keir Giles, from the London-based think tank Chatham House, told Newsweek on Monday. Newsweek has contacted the Kremlin for comment.
Read in full from Brendan Cole on Newsweek.
Jun 02, 2025 at 10:35 AM EDT
Zelensky says if Putin is allowed to dictate who can join NATO, his ‘appetite for war will only grow’
Volodymyr Zelensky has warned that if Vladimir Putin is allowed to dictate who can join NATO, his "appetite for war will only grow."
Putin has repeatedly objected to Ukraine's inclusion in NATO, warning he would not agree to a peace deal if the country was allowed to join.
Zelensky told the B9 summit on Monday that NATO needed to send a message to that "Russia will not get anything from this war".
"We all need to work together to make this doable," he says.
Jun 02, 2025 at 10:29 AM EDT
Ukraine hands Russia list of children it wants returned during talks
The Ukrainian president's chief of staff, Andriy Yermak, said that Ukrainian delegates had given their Russian counterparts a list of children they want back.
Jun 02, 2025 at 10:18 AM EDT
WATCH: Ukraine drone strike destroys Russian military jets
Jun 02, 2025 at 10:03 AM EDT
Threat from Russia is ‘real and serious,’ warns Danish prime minister
Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen has warned that the threat from Russia is "real and serious," as Europe agrees there is a need for a stronger NATO and increased defense spending.
"Putin is talking about peace during the day and then he's bombing at night," Frederiksen said, adding there is also a more aggressive Russian approach in the Baltic Sea region.
She added that the only way forward for Europe was heavy investment in collective security
Jun 02, 2025 at 09:49 AM EDT
Putin will ‘keep playing games’ without sanctions, Zelensky warns
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is speaking at the summit of the Bucharest Nine (B9) and Nordic countries in Vilnius, Lithuania.
"We all want the same thing. To stop the Russian war and bring real peace," Zelensky said at the summit Monday.
He warned that, for that to happen, there had to be a "a new level of pressure" put on Russia.
"New sanctions - and not just from Europe," he said, if the talks fail. Zelensky said he hoped that the U.S. and all G7 nations would join in the sanctions to "seriously limit trade" with Russia, to ensure Putin took them seriously.
"Putin will just keep playing games," if not, he added.
Jun 02, 2025 at 09:36 AM EDT
WATCH: ‘Putin preparing for more war’, US senators warn
Jun 02, 2025 at 09:21 AM EDT
Turkish foreign minister says US involvement in peace talks is crucial
Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said that U.S. support for the Russia-Ukraine peace talks is "extremely important".
He added that President Donald Trump's "determination to establish peace has opened a new window of opportunity."
"The main thing is to ensure a sustainable peace," he added.
Jun 02, 2025 at 09:14 AM EDT
Peace talks in Istanbul conclude
Peace talks between Russia and Ukraine in Istanbul have concluded.
Jun 02, 2025 at 09:12 AM EDT
Zelensky says Ukraine ‘holding the line’ to stop war spreading into Europe
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has warned that Ukraine is "holding the line" to stop the war spreading into Europe.
In a post on X, formerly Twitter, on Monday, Zelensky spoke about Ukraine's drone attack on Russian nuclear bomber jets, deep inside Russia.
"Europe, together with America, has better weapons than Russia. We also have stronger tactical solutions - our operation "Spiderweb" yesterday proved that. Russia must feel what losses mean. That will push it toward diplomacy," he said.
"When Russia takes losses in this war, it's obvious to everyone that Ukraine is the one holding the line - not just for itself, but for all of Europe."
Jun 02, 2025 at 09:02 AM EDT
WATCH: Zelensky comments on Ukraine’s recent attack on Russia, calls for ceasefire
Jun 02, 2025 at 08:57 AM EDT
Eastern European NATO nations committed to Ukraine’s membership
Nordic, Baltic, and central European NATO remain committed to Ukraine joining the military alliance, the country's leaders said after a B9 summit with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
"We stand firm on Allied decision and commitment regarding Ukraine's irreversible path to full Euro-Atlantic integration, including NATO membership," the leaders of Poland, Romania and Lithuania said in a statement.
"Ukraine has the right to choose its own security arrangements and to decide its own future, free from outside interference."
Jun 02, 2025 at 08:50 AM EDT
Turkish official tells peace talks the aim of meeting is to reach ‘sustainable peace’
Turkey's Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan opened the peace talks between Ukraine and Russia, by telling both sides he wanted the negotiations to be "fruitful," with the aim of achieving "sustainable peace."
Fidan told the meeting, being held in Istanbul, that today both sides will discuss what they need for a ceasefire, and their positions in negotiations.
Jun 02, 2025 at 08:49 AM EDT
IN PICTURES: Satellite images show Russian air bases targeted in Ukraine attacks
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Jun 02, 2025 at 08:44 AM EDT
Map shows Russian air bases hit in ‘Pearl Harbor’ drone raid
Coordinated, long-range strikes on multiple Russian airbases thousands of miles from Ukraine took out more than a third of Russia's strategic cruise missile carriers, according to Kyiv, dealing a stinging blow to Moscow ahead of renewed peace talks.
Ukraine on Sunday launched 117 individually-operated drones at four airbases across Russia, officials said, in an attack branded "Russia's Pearl Harbor" by observers, referencing Japan's infamous 1941 assault on the U.S. Pacific Fleet at Oahu, Hawaii.
The operation, codenamed "Spiderweb," inflicted roughly $7 billion in damage as Kyiv struck more than 40 Russian aircraft simultaneously, including nuclear-capable bombers, Ukraine's SBU domestic security agency said.
The head of Ukraine's SBU security service, Lieutenant General Vasyl Malyuk, said on Monday that Kyiv hit 41 aircraft, including Tu-95 and Tu-22 strategic bombers Russia has used extensively to fire long-range missiles at Ukraine.
Read in full from Ellie Cook and John Feng on Newsweek.
Jun 02, 2025 at 08:38 AM EDT
What is Operation Spiderweb?
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Ukrainian President, Volodymyr Zelensky, said the "perfectly executed" operation, dubbed Spiderweb, had taken a year and a half to mastermind.
Each of the 117 drones used had its own operator, the president said, and those involved worked across three different time zones.
The SBU smuggled the drones into Russia, the agency said, before smuggling them into wooden containers with removable roofs mounted on trucks.
"At the right moment, the roofs of the houses were remotely opened, and the drones flew to hit the designated targets – Russian bombers," the SBU said.
A second round of peace talks between Ukraine and Russia kicked off in Turkey on Monday, although there is little optimism renewed discussions will quickly yield progress on a deal.
Russia has in recent weeks intensified its aerial attacks on Ukraine, launching huge waves of drone and missile strikes across the country that drew sharp criticism from U.S. President Donald Trump, who has typically refrained from overtly condemning Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Ukraine, in the wake of its successful drone attacks, is anticipating a strong Russian response, Ivan Stupak, a former officer with the SBU, told Newsweek.
Jun 02, 2025 at 08:27 AM EDT
How many bombers does Russia have left?
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While the war in Ukraine has wreaked havoc on Russia's land forces, much of Moscow's military might, including the vast majority of its air force, has been largely untouched.
General Christopher Cavoli, the top U.S. commander in Europe, said in April last year Russia had lost just 10 percent of its air force since early 2022.
The exact number of bombers remaining is hard to make out, Mertens said, adding if Moscow still has enough in operation, it would be more limited by missile stockpiles than available aircraft.
The Kremlin likely has less than 90 Tu-22, Tu-95 and Tu-160 aircraft in total at its disposal, The Economist reported on Sunday.
Sunday's attacks "may at least temporarily constrain Russia's ability to conduct long-range drone and missile strikes into Ukraine," the U.S.-based think tank, the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) evaluated on Sunday.
NATO officials have increasingly sounded the alarm over the possibility of Russia launching some form of attack on the alliance, often suggesting the likelihood of Moscow mounting an operation increases if a ceasefire is secured in Ukraine.
Ukrainian and Russian officials began a second round of tense talks in Turkey early on Monday, although optimism is low for concrete progress toward a deal.
Russia has in recent weeks hammered Ukraine with massive drone and missile strikes, provoking ire from President Donald Trump, eager to end Europe's largest land conflict since World War II.
Ukraine's drone strikes on Sunday have had a "tremendous impact," likely to make Trump "think seriously" about Kyiv's negotiating position, said Oleksandr Merezhko, the chair of Ukraine's parliamentary foreign affairs committee.
"In one stroke, we managed to do something that was absolutely unbelievable," Merezhko told Newsweek.
The operation was a boon to morale while proving Kyiv is "not a burden for NATO," Merezhko added. Ukraine is a "shield for NATO," he said.
Ukrainian officials have repeatedly said they are fighting not just for Ukraine, but to stop Russia's advance further west into alliance territory.
Jun 02, 2025 at 08:22 AM EDT
Russia’s Pearl Harbor: Putin dealt ‘serious loss’ in stand off with NATO
Ukraine's large-scale, coordinated drone strikes on Russia's high-value aircraft on Sunday packed a punch against part of Moscow's military that had been relatively unscathed by the war in Ukraine.
But they have likely also benefited a NATO scrambling to prepare for a possible war with Russia, an adversary with significant airpower at its disposal.
"Russia has suffered a serious loss in striking power, not just vis-à-vis Ukraine, but also towards NATO as a whole," said Frederik Mertens, a strategic analyst at Dutch research organization, TNO.
Ukraine on Sunday launched simultaneous drone strikes on several major Russian airbases, including in Siberia, just shy of 3,000 miles from Ukraine border, in a meticulously-planned attack that left analysts stunned.
Kyiv said it had brought down roughly $7 billion in damage on Moscow's head, taking out more than a third of its strategic cruise missile carriers. The strikes were quickly dubbed Russia's Pearl Harbor, a reference to the (by contrast, unprovoked) Japanese attacks on the U.S. Pacific Fleet at the Hawaii military base in late 1941.
Read in full from Ellie Cook on Newsweek.
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