Fresh Ukraine-Russia talks in Istanbul on Wednesday, says Zelensky

The next round of negotiations between Ukraine and Russia will take place in Istanbul on Wednesday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Monday.

This was reported to him by Ukraine’s chief negotiator, Rustem Umyerov, Zelensky said in a video message. A new prisoner exchange is being prepared.

There was initially no official confirmation of the new talks from the Russian side – although Moscow had been pushing for a new date in Istanbul for some time.

The Russian state news agency TASS, referring to an unnamed source, named Thursday as the date for the fresh negotiations.

Focus on prisoners and Putin meeting

Earlier, Zelensky said that detailed ceasefire talks are not on the agenda for the next round of negotiations with Russia.

Wednesday’s meeting should instead focus on advancing the return of Ukrainian prisoners of war and children abducted by Russia, as well as preparing a meeting at the presidential level, Zelensky told Kiev diplomats on Monday.

“We need more momentum in the negotiations to end the war,” Zelensky said, explaining his insistence on a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

He stated that results could only be expected from discussions at the highest level.

Moscow confirms interest in negotiations with Kiev

The Kremlin confirmed its interest in a third round of negotiations proposed by Zelensky to end the war.

At the previous meeting, both sides exchanged their position papers, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said. According to Russian news agencies, he added that “great diplomatic work” is still needed as their views as so opposing.

In May, Kiev and Moscow held bilateral negotiations for the first time in three years. At this meeting and a later one in June also in Istanbul, both sides agreed on a large prisoner exchange and the return of fallen soldiers.

However, steps towards ending the war against Ukraine, ordered by Russian President Vladimir Putin in February 2022, were not discussed.

Call for more arms

Zelensky reiterated on Monday that Ukraine needs more air defence systems to protect larger parts of the country from Russian drones and missiles.

Officials in Kiev said earlier that Ukraine requires the equivalent of over €5 billion ($5.84 billion) in additional military aid this year to boost its production of weapons.

The funds are necessary to manufacture more remote-controlled drones, interceptor drones and long-range weapons, Defence Minister Denys Shmyhal said during an online meeting in the so-called Ramstein format.

According to the Interfax-Ukraine news agency, he asked partner countries to already provide funds for 2026.

Ukrainian Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Syrskyi also called for an increase in military aid.

“We are still urgently lacking air-defence systems and associated missiles, long-range weapons, artillery shells, armoured technology, evacuation equipment, electronic warfare systems, radars, drone systems and more,” the general said, adding that only with joint efforts could Russian aggression be stopped.

The 29th meeting was attended by 50 partner countries of Ukraine, led by Germany and the United Kingdom.

Ukraine has been defending itself against a full-scale Russian invasion for more than three years with massive Western support.

Support from Berlin and Oslo

Germany and Norway want to jointly finance the strengthening of Ukraine’s air defence. Following a meeting with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz in Berlin, Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre declared his country’s willingness to make a considerable financial contribution.

Germany wants to support Ukraine with two more Patriot missile defence systems. The original plan was to buy two systems in the US for around €1 billion each and bring them directly to Ukraine.

However, as they are not immediately available, the Bundeswehr is now to initially hand over two of its nine remaining Patriot systems to Ukraine and later receive replacements from the US.

Fresh wave of attacks from both sides

At least one person was killed and eight others injured as Russia launched a wave of drone attacks on Kiev overnight into Monday, Ukrainian officials said.

Zelensky wrote on X about a total of two dead and 15 injured following the attacks across the country as a whole.

The attacks hit the capital and its surroundings, as well as Kharkiv in the north-east and Ivano-Frankivsk in the west, near the Polish border. Referring to Ivano-Frankivsk, Mayor Ruslan Martsinkiv described it as the largest attack since the beginning of the war.

The Ministry of Defence in Moscow said that 74 Ukrainian drones were shot down over Russian territory overnight into Monday. Of these, 15 were reportedly approaching the capital.

The drone attacks once again affected air traffic. According to the aviation authority Rosaviatsiya, the four Moscow airports and one in Nizhny Novgorod were closed for take-offs and landings for hours.