Ukraine and Russia meet in Turkey for peace talks after launching major attacks

ISTANBUL AP Delegations from Russia and Ukraine gathered in Turkey on Monday for their second round of direct peace talks in just over two weeks although expectations were low for any vital progress on ending the three-year war after a string of major attacks over the weekend Ukraine commented Sunday it launched a spectacular surprise attack on five Russian airbases thousands of kilometers miles apart ranging from air bases close to Moscow to targets in Russia s Arctic Siberia and Far East The targets were more than kilometers miles from Ukraine More than Russian warplanes were destroyed Ukraine claimed in what Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called a brilliant operation that involved more than a year of planning Meanwhile Russia on Sunday launched the biggest number of drones on Ukraine since the full-scale invasion in February Ukraine s air force noted in an apparent effort to overwhelm air defenses U S -led efforts to push the two sides into accepting a ceasefire have failed Ukraine accepted that step but the Kremlin effectively rejected it The Institute for the Examination of War a Washington-based think tank assessed late Sunday that Russia is attempting to delay negotiations and prolong the war in order to make additional battlefield gains International concerns about the war s consequences as well as contract tensions drove Asian share prices lower Monday while oil prices surged Modern comments by senior agents in both countries indicate they remain far apart on the key conditions for stopping the war The first round of talks held on May also in Istanbul ended after less than two hours While both sides agreed on a large prisoner swap there was no breakthrough The Ukrainian delegation led by Defense Minister Rustem Umerov was in Istanbul for Monday s meeting Heorhii Tykhyi spokesperson for the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry declared in a message posted on the Ukrainian Embassy WhatsApp group The Russian delegation headed by Vladimir Medinsky an aide to Russian leader Vladimir Putin arrived Sunday evening Russian state media published Turkish functionaries explained the meeting would start at p m local time with Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan presiding over the talks and representatives from the Turkish intelligence agency also present However Ukrainian spokesperson Tykhyi mentioned the start would be at midday local time It was not directly feasible to clarify the discrepancy Fierce fighting has continued along the roughly -kilometer -mile front line and both sides have hit each other s territory with deep strikes Russian air defenses downed Ukrainian drones over eight Russian regions overnight as well as over the annexed Ukrainian peninsula of Crimea Russia s Defense Ministry commented Monday Ukrainian air defenses damaged out of drones launched by Russia overnight the Ukrainian air force declared Two ballistic missiles struck a residential neighborhood in the northeastern Ukrainian city of Kharkiv on Monday morning including one that hit near a school the city s mayor disclosed One missile landed near an apartment building while the second struck a road near the school Kharkiv Mayor Ihor Terekhov noted in a announcement and published a photo of a wide crater Standing next to the crater you realize how different it all could have been Terekhov wrote A meager more meters and it would have hit the building A scant more minutes and cars buses would have been on the road No casualties were informed