Ukraine suspects Russia is not really interested in pausing the conflict and ending the war, and the head of the country’s delegation, Defence Minister Rustem Umerov, said the key points could only be resolved at face-to-face talks between President Zelensky and President Putin.

Russia and Ukraine are meeting in Istanbul on Monday for a second round of direct negotiations, a day after Ukraine launched an unprecedented drone attack targeting Russian military bases thousands of miles from the front lines.

Ukraine and Russia concluded the second round of talks in Istanbul. The sides agreed on a new POW exchange of under 25 years old and severely ill soldiers. Kyiv says it handed over to Moscow the list of Ukrainian children illegally deported by Russia.