Russia Ready For Peace Talks, Ukraine Reluctant

By Stefan J. Bos, Worthy News Europe Bureau Chief

KYIV/BUDAPEST (Worthy News) – Despite war still raging, Russian President Vladimir Putin has told his U.S. counterpart Donald J. Trump that Moscow is ready to hold a fresh round of peace talks with Kyiv after June 22 once the sides complete exchanging prisoners and soldiers’ bodies in a conflict that is believed that have killed and injured more than 1 million people.

On Sunday, Ukraine confirmed it had received the bodies of another 1,200 Ukrainian soldiers killed in the war with Russia, but the Kremlin quickly said it did not receive a single Russian corpse in return.

“As part of the agreements in Istanbul, the repatriation of the bodies of the deceased continues. Today, the Russian side handed over another 1,200 bodies to Ukraine,” said Ukrainian Defence Minister Rustem Umerov. “Ahead is an important and responsible stage of identification. This is a complex and delicate work that will give each family the opportunity to receive answers,” added Umerov, who headed the Ukrainian delegation at talks in Istanbul.

In several exchanges so far this month, Ukraine repatriated more than 4,800 bodies, Ukrainian officials said. This marks one of the most significant returns of war dead since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

Putin and Trump held a 50-minute phone call on Saturday to discuss the escalating situation in the Middle East and how to end Europe’s bloodiest conflict since World War II that began with Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, confirmed Putin aide Yuri Ushakov.

The exchange came after Trump said on his Truth Social media platform that Putin had called him “to very nicely wish me a Happy Birthday” on the day he turned 79, but that “more importantly” the two discussed the Iran-Israel crisis: “He feels, as do I, this war in Israel-Iran should end, to which I explained, his war should also end,” Trump added, referring to the Russia-Ukraine conflict.

This was the fifth time Putin and Trump held a call since the Republican took office, in a stark pivot from the approach of his predecessor Joe Biden’s administration, commentators noted.

MORE DISCUSSIONS

Trump suggested there will be follow-up discussions on the war in Ukraine in the coming week.

However, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy declined to say whether Ukraine would join the next round of talks, only saying that “the exchanges will be completed and the parties will discuss the next step.”

However, in signs of tensions with Washington, Zelenskyy urged the United States to “shift tone” in its dialogue with Russia, saying it was “too warm” and would not help to end the fighting.

He said he hoped that the escalation between Israel and Iran would not result in a drop in military aid to Kyiv, according to remarks published on Saturday: “We would like to see aid to Ukraine not decrease because of this,” he said. “Last time, this was a factor that slowed down aid to Ukraine.”

The recent escalation reportedly sparked fears the Trump administration might relocate resources at its expense to beef up the defence of its close ally Israel, which unleashed a large-scale attack on Iran Friday.

That would come at a difficult moment as a sharp rise in global oil prices following Israeli strikes on Iran will benefit Russia and bolster its military capabilities in the war in Ukraine, Zelenskyy said.

Speaking to journalists in Kyiv, Zelenskyy stressed that the surge in oil prices threatened Ukraine’s position on the battlefield, mainly because Western allies have not enforced effective price caps on Russian oil exports. “The strikes led to a sharp increase in the price of oil, which is negative for us,” Zelenskyy said. “The Russians are getting stronger due to greater income from oil exports.”

SWAPPING PRISONERS

Earlier on Saturday, Ukraine and Russia swapped prisoners in the fourth such exchange this week, part of a large-scale plan to bring back 1,000 wounded prisoners from each side and return the bodies of dead soldiers.

The prisoner’s agreement was the only visible result of two recent rounds of talks in Istanbul.

Photos published by Zelenskyy on the social media platform Telegram showed men of various ages, draped in Ukrainian flags. Some were injured, others disembarked from buses and hugged those welcoming them, or were seen calling someone by phone, sometimes covering their faces or smiling.

Moscow’s defence ministry released a video showing men in uniform holding Russian flags, clapping and chanting “Glory to Russia” and “Hooray,” some raising their fists in the air.

Zelenskyy said he expected the prisoner swaps to continue until June 20 or 21.

Yet more prisoners of war and dead bodies were expected, with war raging on the battlefields. Zelenskyy said Saturday that Ukrainian forces had recaptured Andriivka village in the northeastern Sumy region. Zelenskyy also claimed “successful actions” near Pokrovsk, for months a focus of Russian attacks in their slow advance on the eastern front, and “strong results” near Kupiansk, an area in northeastern Ukraine that has come under heavy Russian pressure.

Reporters could not verify the battlefield reports.

RUSSIA MOVING

Since the start of the month, Russia has intensified its advances along the frontline, especially in the north-eastern Ukrainian region of Sumy, where it seeks to establish a “buffer zone”.

Russia’s Defense Ministry claimed Saturday that its forces had seized the village of Zelenyi Kut, southwest of Pokrovsk. Zelenskyy said Ukrainian troops had maintained defensive lines along more than 1,000 kilometers (621 miles) of the front line.

He also dismissed Moscow’s claims that Russian troops had crossed into the central Ukrainian region of Dnipropetrovsk.

That area borders three regions that Russia partially occupies – Donetsk, Kherson, and Zaporizhzhia.

Russia now controls about one-fifth of Ukrainian territory, according to military observers, a far cry from its initial plan to move into Kyiv and overthrow the current leadership.

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