By Stefan J. Bos, Worthy News Europe Bureau Chief
ISTANBUL/KYIV/BUDAPEST (Worthy News) – Russian and Ukrainian officials have met briefly in Istanbul, Turkey, for the latest round of talks aimed at ending Europe’s bloodiest conflict since World War II. The session was overshadowed by renewed fighting between the two countries, killing at least three and injuring more than 30 others.
Forty minutes seemed short to end a war that is believed to have killed and injured more than one million people on both sides.
That’s why officials said the brief Istanbul meeting between delegates from Russia and Ukraine focused on humanitarian issues like prisoner exchanges and swapping bodies and wounded soldiers.
Kyiv also offered Moscow to hold a meeting between the presidents of Russia, Vladimir Putin, and Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky, by the end of August, confirmed Rusten Umerov is the head of the Ukrainian delegation. “Well, Ukrainian side is always ready for a ceasefire discussions and it was actually initiated by the American side after, uh, by President [Donald J.] Trump,” he told reporters.
“This is the third time. And we will always prioritizing the ceasefire. At the moment, it is not up to us. I think the world should supporting Ukraine for ceasefire. We are ready to do it, it is the Russian side who is not agreeing on it,” Umerov added.
However the Kremlin counters that both sides remain deeply divided over ceasefire terms, with Western officials accusing Russia of delaying an agreement to make more gains on the battlefields.
Just hours after the ceasefire discussions, both sides launched drone and missile attacks. Authorities announced that Russian strikes in Ukraine’s northeastern city of Kharkiv killed several and injured scores of people, including children.
MORE RUSSIAN STRIKES
And overnight attacks at Cherkasy, south-east of Kyiv, the capital, reportedly sparked several fires and injured at least seven people.
Authorities said Russia also struck the southern Ukrainian city of Odesa, destroying a nine-storey building and damaging UNESCO-protected historic areas, injuring nearly a dozen civilians. Ukraine retaliated with drone strikes targeting Russian coastal regions.
There were also reports of attacks in numerous other towns and cities.
Ukrainian President Zelenskyy noted that Kyiv had offered Moscow a complete ceasefire, “only to see Russia respond with drone attacks on residential areas.”
However, Ukraine retaliated with drone strikes targeting Russian coastal and other areas.
Russia said a Ukrainian drone struck an oil depot in Sirius, near the Russian city of Sochi, where two people were reportedly killed by fallen debris from a drone that had been shot down.
The clashes underscored concern that it is becoming increasingly complex to end a war that began with Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
Copyright 1999-2025 Worthy News. This article was originally published on Worthy News and was reproduced with permission.
Latest News from Worthy News
Britain, France, and Germany blamed Israel for the “humanitarian catastrophe” in Gaza and demanded that Israel lift “restrictions” on aid.
Russian and Ukrainian officials have met briefly in Istanbul, Turkey, for the latest round of talks aimed at ending Europe’s bloodiest conflict since World War II. The session was overshadowed by renewed fighting between the two countries, killing at least three and injuring more than 30 others.
French President Emmanuel Macron sparked a diplomatic firestorm Thursday by announcing that France will formally recognize a Palestinian state at the United Nations General Assembly this September.
After nearly three weeks of intensive U.S.- and Qatari-mediated negotiations with Hamas in Doha, both Israel and the United States have recalled their negotiating teams, citing a lack of genuine progress and deep-rooted ideological obstacles from the terror group that continue to stall a potential deal.
Despite weeks of vocal demands for transparency surrounding the Jeffrey Epstein case, Senate Democrats on Wednesday blocked a Republican-led resolution that would have unsealed all court documents related to the late sex offender and his accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell.
A disturbing wave of antisemitic incidents has erupted across Europe in recent weeks, targeting Israeli tourists and Jewish communities with increasing frequency and violence. From Greece to Germany, Switzerland to Belgium, attacks, threats, and legal actions against Israelis are raising alarms among Jewish leaders and government officials alike.
Hours after ceasefire negotiations between Russian and Ukrainian delegations broke down once again in Istanbul, both sides launched punishing strikes on each other’s resort cities along the Black Sea, escalating a war now deep into its fourth year.