The talks in Istanbul broke up after less than two hours without a ceasefire, although both sides agreed on exchanging 1000 prisoners of war each, according to the heads of both delegations. Ukraine’s intelligence chief, Kyrylo Budanov, said on Ukrainian television on Saturday that the exchange could happen as early as next week.
But the Kremlin has pushed back against a proposal by Ukraine and its Western allies for a temporary ceasefire as a first step toward a peaceful settlement, and the parties remained far apart on key conditions for ending the fighting.
Since US-brokered talks began in March, Ukraine’s strategy has been to convince the Trump administration that Putin is unreliable, and that Kyiv is serious about peace. Trump has expressed frustration with the stalled talks and threatened to abandon his efforts if results aren’t achieved.
He has also said that no peace would be reached until he held a face-to-face meeting with Putin. On Friday, Trump told reporters after boarding Air Force One to return to Washington from Abu Dhabi that he may call Putin soon.
“He and I will meet, and I think we’ll solve it, or maybe not,” Trump said. “At least we’ll know.”
The political theatrics are underscored by stark realities on the ground in Ukraine. In a war of attrition against Russia’s full-scale invasion, Ukraine’s position is poised to grow weaker as time goes on, unless powerful sanctions are imposed against Moscow and the US continues arms deliveries.
Zelensky said that he had discussed the outcome of the talks with Trump and the leaders of France, Germany, Britain and Poland. In an X post from a European leadership meeting in Albania on Friday, Zelensky urged “tough sanctions” against Moscow if it rejects “a full and unconditional ceasefire and an end to killings”.
Peskov on Saturday held open the possibility of Putin holding talks with Zelensky, providing the agreed prisoner swap went ahead, and if the Russian and Ukrainian delegations reached unspecified further “agreements”.
Peskov also told reporters that Moscow would present Ukraine with a list of conditions for a ceasefire, but gave no timeframe, or say what needed to happen before Zelensky and Putin can meet.
A town in mourning
In Ukraine, nine civilians were killed and seven others were wounded when a Russian drone struck a bus evacuating people from Bilopillia, a town around 10 kilometres from Russia’s border, according to local Governor Oleh Hryhorov and Ukraine’s national police. The Associated Press couldn’t independently verify the reports. There was no immediate comment from Moscow.
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Zelensky described the attack as “deliberate killing of civilians”, adding in a post on the Telegram messaging app that “Russians could scarcely not realise what kind of vehicle they were hitting”.
The local media outlet Suspilne said that the passengers on the bus were being evacuated from the town when the strike happened. Authorities are working to identify some of the victims, most of them older women.
Local community chief Yurii Zarko called the day “Black Saturday”, and mourning was declared in the town through Monday.
Zelensky lamented the missed opportunity from Friday’s peace talks, saying that “Ukraine has long proposed this – a full and unconditional ceasefire in order to save lives”.
Ukraine’s European allies strongly condemned the attack. UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy said that he was “appalled” by it. “If Putin is serious about peace, Russia must agree to a full and immediate ceasefire, as Ukraine has done,” he wrote on X.
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, speaking at a joint news conference with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, condemned Russia for “continuing their attacks today with undiminished ferocity”. He vowed to continue to increase the pressure on Moscow with added sanctions.
