Russia, Ukraine agree to return thousands of war dead in brief peace talks

The Associated Press

· Posted: Jun 02, 2025 8:19 AM EDT | Last Updated: 14 minutes ago

Delegations from Russia and Ukraine met for a 2nd circular of nonstop bid talks in Turkey, though debased expectations for the acme seemed to beryllium realized arsenic they ended aft conscionable implicit 1 hour.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, speaking astatine a acme of respective NATO members connected Monday successful Vilnius, Lithuania, said a caller merchandise of prisoners of warfare was being prepared. Talks 2 weeks agone successful Turkey led to the biggest speech of prisoners since Russia invaded Ukraine successful 2022, with hundreds freed from captivity by some sides.

The 2 sides besides each agreed to swap 6,000 bodies of soldiers killed successful action, said Vladimir Medinsky, the Russian statesmanlike advisor who led the delegation from the Kremlin.

Meanwhile, Ukraine handed Russia an authoritative database of children it says were forcibly deported and indispensable beryllium returned, said Andriy Yermak, caput of Zelenskyy's office.

The talks came successful the aftermath of a astonishment Ukraine onslaught connected 4 Russian airbases thousands of kilometres apart, which destroyed much than 40 warplanes. The raid was unprecedented successful its scope and geographic reach, targeting bases successful Russia's Arctic, Siberia and acold eastbound much than 7,000 kilometres from Ukraine.

WATCH l Ukraine strikes heavy into Russian territory successful drones attack: 

The caput of the Ukrainian information service, Vasyl Maliuk, who led the readying of the operation, said its occurrence was "a large slap successful the look for Russia's subject power." He said the drones struck simultaneously successful 3 clip zones and the analyzable logistics took implicit a twelvemonth and a fractional to prepare.

Meanwhile, Russia connected Sunday fired the biggest fig of drones — 472 successful each — at Ukraine since its full-scale penetration successful February 2022, Ukraine's aerial unit said, successful an evident effort to overwhelm aerial defences. This was portion of a precocious escalating run of strikes successful civilian areas of Ukraine.

Zelenskyy pushes for much sanctions

Zelenskyy said the setbacks connected Sunday for the Kremlin would assistance unit it to the negotiating table, adjacent arsenic it pursues a summertime violative connected the battlefield.

"Russia indispensable consciousness what its losses mean. That is what volition propulsion it toward diplomacy," helium said successful Vilnius.

Zelenskyy said that "if the Istanbul gathering brings nothing, that intelligibly means beardown caller sanctions are urgently, urgently needed" against Russia.

U.S.-led efforts to propulsion the 2 sides into accepting a ceasefire person truthful acold failed. Ukraine accepted a intermission successful fighting, but the Kremlin efficaciously rejected it.

Senior officials successful some countries person indicated the 2 sides stay acold isolated connected the cardinal conditions for stopping the war. The archetypal circular of talks — held connected May 16, besides successful Istanbul — ended aft little than 2 hours.

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The Institute for the Study of War, a Washington-based think-tank, said Sunday that "Russia is attempting to hold negotiations and prolong the warfare successful bid to marque further battlefield gains."

The relentless warring has frustrated U.S. President Donald Trump's extremity of bringing astir a speedy extremity to the war.

A week ago, Trump expressed impatience with Russian President Vladimir Putin arsenic Moscow pounded Kyiv and different Ukrainian cities with drones and missiles for a 3rd consecutive night.

'Hard to underestimate' drones attack: analyst

Ukraine has occasionally struck airbases hosting Russia's atomic susceptible strategical bombers since aboriginal successful the war, prompting the Russian aerial unit to redeploy astir of them to the regions farther from the beforehand line.

Because Sunday's drones were launched from trucks adjacent to the bases targeted successful 5 Russian regions, subject defences had virtually nary clip to hole for them.

The authoritative Russian effect to the Sunday attacks was muted, with the onslaught getting small sum connected the state-controlled television. Russia-1 TV transmission spent small implicit a infinitesimal connected it Sunday evening, with a little Ministry of Defence statement work retired earlier images shifted to Russian drone strikes connected Ukrainian positions.

Many Russian subject bloggers chided the subject for its nonaccomplishment to physique protective shields for the bombers contempt erstwhile attacks, but the ample size of the planes makes that a challenging task.

The attacks were "a large stroke to Russian strategical aerial power" and exposed important vulnerabilities successful Moscow's subject capabilities, according to Phillips O'Brien, a prof of strategical studies astatine the University of St. Andrews successful Scotland.

"This is hard to underestimate," O'Brien wrote successful an analysis. 

Deadly exchanges connected Monday

Fierce warring has continued on the astir 1,000-kilometre front line.

Russian forces shelled Ukraine's confederate Kherson region, sidesplitting 3 radical and injuring 19 others, including 2 children, determination officials said Monday.

Also, a rocket onslaught and shelling astir the confederate metropolis of Zaporizhzhia killed five radical and injured 9 others, officials said.

Russian aerial defences downed 162 Ukrainian drones implicit 8 Russian regions overnight, arsenic good arsenic implicit the annexed Ukrainian peninsula of Crimea, Russia's Defence Ministry said Monday. Ukrainian aerial defences damaged 52 retired of 80 drones launched by Russia overnight, the Ukrainian aerial unit said.