Russia and Ukraine set to restart talks after Kyiv hits bombers

Henry Meyer and Olesia Safronova, Bloomberg News on Jun 2, 2025

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Russia and Ukraine will resume direct peace talks in Istanbul a day after Ukraine staged one of its boldest aerial attacks inside Russia, which destroyed long-range bombers and other aircraft.

Ukrainian Defense Minister Rustem Umerov will lead the talks Monday opposite a delegation headed by Russian presidential aide Vladimir Medinsky. The meeting marks only the second time the two warring sides have held public negotiations since the early days of the conflict and follows a first round of talks in May.

Prospects for peace remain distant despite months of high-profile efforts by U.S. President Donald Trump, who has grown increasingly frustrated with the lack of progress. Moscow didn’t accept a U.S. proposal for a 30-day ceasefire and has laid out maximalist demands to end its invasion, now in its fourth year. While Trump has threatened to impose more sanctions on Russia, he’s held off on taking that step.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Sunday revealed details of the attack, which utilized drones hidden in trucks sent deep inside Russia to hit strategic airfields as far away as eastern Siberia. He also said his country would use “active actions” and “diplomacy” to defend itself while demanding an immediate halt to fighting.

“We are doing everything to protect our independence, our state, and our people,” Zelenskyy said on the X social media platform.

Ukraine used 117 drones with people operating inside Russia across three time zones, he said, adding that about a third of the strategic cruise missile carriers at the airfields were hit.

More than 40 Russian aircraft, including the Tu-95 and Tu-22 M3 long-range bombers capable of deploying conventional and nuclear weapons as well as the A-50, were damaged in the operation on Sunday, an official in Ukraine’s Security Service said on condition of anonymity as the details are not public. Ukraine’s Security Service chief Vasyl Maliuk led the operation, the person said.

Russia’s Defense Ministry in a statement on Telegram confirmed that attacks occurred at five military airbases across the nation from the Far East and eastern Siberia to locations just several hundred miles from Moscow, but said that only “a few aircraft units” were damaged at two military bases in the Murmansk and Irkutsk regions. The pro-Moscow military blogger Rybar, which has about 1.3 million subscribers on Telegram, estimated that 13 aircraft were damaged and most were long-range bombers.

Also on Sunday, Moscow launched one of its longest-lasting drone and missile attacks against Kyiv with air sirens lasting for more than nine hours, escalating tensions ahead of the crucial peace talks. At least 12 people were killed in a strike on a military training center, prompting Ukraine Ground Forces Commander Mykhaylo Drapatyi to announce his decision to resign due to the casualties.

Over the weekend, Russia’s military also said it had taken control of several more settlements in Ukraine’s northeast Sumy region, after Moscow earlier said it would try to create what it calls a “a buffer zone” inside the country.

Some of Russia’s more advanced weapons are dependent on foreign components, such as cruise missiles, TU-22 bombers, submarines and anti-aircraft radar, which means replacing the lost bombers will be very difficult because of sanctions.

Separately, Russia’s main investigating authority on Sunday initiated criminal probes after two bridges blew up in regions bordering Ukraine, crushing passing trains that caused at least seven fatalities and widespread injury.

The opening round of peace talks on May 16 — the first in more than three years — ended with a prisoner exchange agreement and discussions on a potential ceasefire. So far, Russia hasn’t signaled the attacks would affect the talks, and delegations from both countries had arrived in Istanbul by Monday morning.

Zelenskyy on Sunday confirmed the delegation to Istanbul to discuss issues including a full and unconditional ceasefire, release of prisoners and the return of abducted children. The two countries are due to outline their peace proposals.

The delegations should also discuss the prospects of a high-level meeting as key issues can only be resolved by leaders, Zelenskyy added.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov spoke by phone with U.S. counterpart Marco Rubio about Ukraine, the Foreign Ministry said Sunday, according to the Interfax news service.

The U.S. envoy to Ukraine, Keith Kellogg, said the U.S., U.K., France and Germany also would take part in the talks on the sidelines with the goal of narrowing the differences. Kellogg told U.S. network ABC News that Russia’s reported demand for a written pledge that NATO won’t expand further eastwards, including into Ukraine, is a “fair concern.”

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—With assistance from Rachel Lavin.