Following the Kremlin’s proposal to hold the next round of peace talks in Istanbul on 2 June, we’re looking back at what happened during the first round of negotiations earlier this month.
Those talks – also held in Turkey – represented the first face-to-face meeting between Ukrainian and Russian government officials since 2022 – and it lasted barely two hours.
There were hopes that the encounter in Istanbul might mark a turning point in Europe’s deadliest conflict since the Second World War, but they instead proved to be more performative than substantial.
There was one concrete achievement: Russia and Ukraine agreed to a large-scale prisoner swap involving thousands of captives.
The final handover of the exchange was completed on Sunday, with 303 Ukrainian captives handed over to complete a “1,000 for 1,000” swap.
An ‘eternal’ war
Past the prisoner swap, there was little else to celebrate from the talks, with the Russian delegation said to have laid out their ultimate demands to end the war.
“We don’t want war, but we’re ready to fight for a year, two, three – however long it takes,” lead Russian negotiator Vladimir Medinsky is reported to have said. “We fought Sweden for 21 years. How long are you ready to fight?”
Then there was a chilling moment when the Russians are reported to have threatened their Ukrainian counterparts like gangsters.
“Maybe some of those sitting here at this table will lose more of their loved ones,” Medinsky said.
Watch: What happened at Ukraine talks?