The Kremlin announced Thursday that no additional direct peace talks have been scheduled between Russia and Ukraine, casting uncertainty over the future of negotiations aimed at ending the conflict, now in its fourth year.
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told reporters there is “no concrete agreement about the next meetings,” following last week’s first face-to-face meeting between Russian and Ukrainian delegations since 2022. He added that any new talks “are yet to be agreed upon.”
The May 16 meeting in Istanbul resulted in a tentative agreement to conduct a large-scale prisoner exchange, with both sides committing to release 1,000 prisoners of war. However, beyond that step, the meeting yielded no substantial progress toward a ceasefire or peace settlement.
The talks came shortly after U.S. President Donald Trump publicly stated that Ukraine and Russia would begin immediate ceasefire negotiations. Yet, according to Peskov, no further sessions have been finalized.
President Vladimir Putin, speaking earlier this week, said Moscow was prepared to discuss a memorandum outlining a framework for a future peace treaty. However, he rejected a 30-day ceasefire proposal already accepted by Ukraine, instead linking a potential agreement to a halt in Ukraine’s mobilization and a freeze on Western arms deliveries.
Peskov described the prisoner swap process as “laborious” but ongoing at a “quick pace,” adding, “Everybody is interested in doing it quickly.”
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy also confirmed that preparations for the exchange are underway, calling it “perhaps the only real result” of the Istanbul talks.
Peskov also dismissed a Wall Street Journal report claiming that Trump told European leaders Russian officials were uninterested in talks because they believed they were “winning the war.” Peskov responded, “We know what Trump told Putin. We don’t know what Trump told the Europeans. What we know contradicts that article.”
Drone Warfare Intensifies
Even as diplomacy stalls, the war continues to rage across a 1,000-kilometre (620-mile) front line, with frequent drone attacks targeting infrastructure on both sides.
Russia’s Defence Ministry reported intercepting 105 Ukrainian drones overnight, including 35 over the Moscow region. It was the second consecutive night of drone strikes on the Russian capital, disrupting over 160 flights at major Moscow airports due to safety concerns.
In response, officials in affected regions—including Oryol, southwest of Moscow—temporarily shut down mobile internet networks amid heightened security alerts.
Meanwhile, Ukraine reported that Russia launched 128 drones overnight. Strikes in the central Dnipropetrovsk region damaged an industrial facility, electrical infrastructure, and several private homes, according to Governor Serhii Lysak.
In Kyiv, drone debris fell on the grounds of a school in the Darnytskyi district. No injuries were reported, according to the city’s military administration.
The ongoing conflict has resulted in tens of thousands of military casualties and has displaced millions, while peace prospects remain elusive amid continued military escalation and geopolitical uncertainty.