“End Nuclear Insanity Before Nuclear Insanity Ends Humanity” ~llaw
Jun 03, 2025
The Russian and Ukrainian delegations leave after the second round of Ukraine-Russia peace talks at Ciragan Palace on June 2, 2025 at in Istanbul, Turkey. (See Reuter’s article for photo credits.)
LLAW’s NUCLEAR WORLD NEWS TODAY and the GLOBAL RISKS & CONSEQUENCES TOMORROW
In My Opinion:
Despite Ukraine’s very successful drone attack on Russia’s bombers just a couple of days before the 2nd round of peace talks in Istanbul were scheduled, the talks lasted less than an hour essentially meaning nothing at all was settled, and may have damaged he chances of a peace agreement altogether.
However, there was a discussion concerning a revised prisoner exchange program and Ukraine officials reported that the next round of talks would go on. My question is, given Trump’s apparent anger for not being advised of the well-executed Ukraine attack will interfere in the next round.
Trump has recently complained about Putin’s role in war crimes involving the deaths of civilians including children, and has called Putin “crazy” at one point, but many, including my own thoughts, are that Trump is only using Putin’s war crimes as an excuse to walk away from involvement as an excuse or attempt to to save face about his oft repeated public lie that he could and would end the Russia/Ukraine war immediately, like in one day, after taking office as the U.S. president, although Putin has been accused of multiple war crimes long before Trump continued his ridiculous boasts about ending the war.
The article tells us that both countries would like to keep Trump, who has threatened to abandon any mediation of the peace talks, apprised, but for entirely different reasons. But, regardless of any other issues, Putin has demanded that Ukraine return to Russian political control and give up their hope for democracy and NATO membership — something Zelenskyy has unwaveringly and constantly said, for a year now, both are something Ukraine will never do.
A cease fire is one thing, but a peace agreement is another, and it seems to me that the two countries are no closer to peace than they were a year ago . . . ~llaw
Ukraine attack on Russian nuclear bombers overshadows peace talks in Turkey
Published Mon, Jun 2 202510:59 AM EDT
Key Points
- Peace talks between Russia and Ukraine in Istanbul ended barely an hour after they began on Monday.
- The talks – the second such direct contacts between the sides since 2022 – had already begun nearly two hours later than scheduled with no explanation of the delay.
The Russian and Ukrainian delegations leave after the second round of Ukraine-Russia peace talks at Ciragan Palace on June 2, 2025 at in Istanbul, Turkey.
Chris Mcgrath | Getty Images News | Getty Images
Peace talks between Russia and Ukraine in Istanbul ended barely an hour after they began on Monday, a day after a massive Ukrainian drone attack on Russia’s nuclear-capable strategic bombers.
The talks – the second such direct contacts between the sides since 2022 – had already begun nearly two hours later than scheduled with no explanation of the delay.
Although the atmosphere was subdued and dialogue brief, the talks did yield an agreement to conduct a new prisoner exchange and Ukraine said another round of talks was on the agenda.
In Russia, before the talks began, angry war bloggers had called on Moscow to deliver a fearsome retaliatory blow against Kyiv after Ukraine on Sunday launched one of its most ambitious attacks of the war, targeting Russian nuclear-capable long-range bombers in Siberia and elsewhere.
Ukraine and Russia have issued starkly different assessments of the damage done to Russia’s fleet of strategic bombers – a key element in its nuclear arsenal – but it was clear from publicly available satellite imagery that Moscow had suffered some serious equipment losses.
“The eyes of the whole world are focused on the contacts here,” Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan had told the Russian and Ukrainian delegations at the start of talks as they faced off against each other on opposite sides of the room in the sumptuous Ciragan Palace by the Bosphorus.
He said the aim of the meeting was to evaluate the conditions for a ceasefire, to discuss a possible meeting between the Russian and Ukrainian presidents, and to look at more prisoner exchange opportunities.
Ukrainian Defence Minister Rustem Umerov, who headed Kyiv’s delegation, announced after the talks that a new prisoner exchange had been agreed to follow up on the biggest prisoner swap of the war brokered at the last round of talks.
He said the new exchange would focus on those severely injured in the war and on young people.
Umerov also said that Moscow had handed its own draft peace accord to Ukraine and that Kyiv – which has drawn up its own version – would review the Russian document.
Ukraine has proposed holding more talks before the end of June, but believes that only a meeting between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy and Russian President Vladimir Putin can resolve the many issues of contention, Umerov said.
Zelenskiy’s chief of staff, Andriy Yermak, said Kyiv’s delegation had handed over a list of children it said had been deported to Russia and which it wanted back. Moscow says such children were moved in order to protect them from fighting.
The two sides had been expected on Monday to discuss their respective and wildly different ideas for what a full ceasefire and a longer term path to peace should look like amid pressure from U.S. President Donald Trump, who has said the U.S. could abandon its role as a mediator if there is no progress.
But Umerov said Kyiv had been unable to react to Russia’s proposals for peace because it had only seen them on Monday.
Low expectations
While both countries, for different reasons, are keen to keep Trump engaged in the peace process, expectations of a breakthrough on Monday had been low.
Ukraine regards Russia’s approach to date as an attempt to force it to capitulate – something Kyiv says it will never do – while Moscow, which advanced on the battlefield in May at its fastest rate in six months, says Kyiv should submit to peace on Russian terms or face losing more territory.
Putin set out his opening terms for an immediate end to the war last June: Ukraine must drop its NATO ambitions and withdraw all of its troops from the entirety of the territory of four Ukrainian regions claimed and mostly controlled by Russia.
According to a proposed roadmap drawn up by Ukraine, a copy of which was seen by Reuters, Kyiv wants no restrictions on its military strength after any peace deal, no international recognition of Russian sovereignty over parts of Ukraine taken by Moscow’s forces, and wants reparations.
Russia currently controls just under one fifth of Ukraine, or about 113,100 square km, about the same size as the U.S. state of Ohio.
Putin sent tens of thousands of troops into Ukraine on February 24, 2022, after eight years of fighting in eastern Ukraine between Russian-backed separatists and Ukrainian forces.
The United States says over 1.2 million people have been killed and injured in the war since 2022.
Trump has called Putin “crazy” and berated Zelenskiy in public in the Oval Office, but the U.S. president has also said he thinks peace is achievable and that if Putin delays then he could impose tough sanctions on Russia.
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