Russia and Ukraine held direct talks for the third time since the war started on June 2, but the meeting broke up with no real progress made.

The Ukrainian side arrived with a long list of demands (see below) but said Russia rejected their top priority, an unconditional 30-day ceasefire. Instead, the Ukraine delegation handed over a list of illegally deported or forcibly detained Ukrainian children who need to be returned, said the head of the President’s Office of Ukraine, Andriy Yermak.

"Today, during the negotiations in Istanbul, the Ukrainian side officially handed over to the Russian side a list of Ukrainian children who need to be returned. We are talking about hundreds of children whom Russia illegally deported, forcibly moved or is holding in temporarily occupied territories," he wrote on Telegram on Monday, June 2.

Yermak said at a US-brokered meeting in Jeddah in March, Ukraine confirmed its readiness for a 30-day ceasefire with a humanitarian component. Russian President Vladimir Putin accepted the demand in principle but demanded a long list of conditions that address the “root causes” of the war before the Kremlin would be willing to call a halt to the hostilities. Many of the points on Putin’s list, such as a no-Nato promise and the downsizing of Ukraine’s military are non-starters for Bankova.

The talks come the day after Operation Spiderweb, an audacious drone attack deep inside Russian territory that destroyed 41 strategic, nuclear-capable, bombers. In Moscow, the strike provoked a furious reaction, with pro-war commentators calling for a strong retaliatory response against Kyiv.

With the main fighting season underway, and with the momentum on the battlefield, despite recent setbacks, it seems that Putin is in no rush to call a ceasefire. Answering Ukraine’s call for a month-long standstill, the Russian delegates offered a temporary two-day halt in hostilities.

Ukraine gave Reuters the text of their offer, but it was “completely unacceptable for Russia, since it denies international recognition of the territories annexed by Russia, does not provide for restrictions on the Ukrainian Armed Forces and the deployment of foreign contingents, and de facto – on joining NATO,” The Bell reports.

The meeting is the third direct meeting since the war began more than three years ago and follows on from a May 16 meeting, also in Istanbul.

While Operation Spiderweb wrongfooted the Kremlin, the Russian side found itself in a losing position and decided that it was not in its interests to disrupt the negotiations. It tried to downplay the attack, which was barely mentioned in the Russian media, according to bne IntelliNews Moscow bureau. The basic facts were reported and major newspapers did little more than reproduce the Ministry of Defence press release. The fact strategic bombers were destroyed was not mentioned.

Putin has also yet to comment on the attack. The Russian Foreign Ministry responded only to the explosions of two bridges in regions bordering Ukraine that are suspected partisan attacks. And the head of the Russian delegation to Istanbul, Vladimir Medinsky, only said that he had read the Ukrainian memorandum.

“The eyes of the whole world are focused on the contacts here,” said Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan who was hosting the meeting, as the delegations assembled at the Ciragan Palace on the Bosphorus. “We believe that you will achieve concrete results that will bring us one step closer to peace,” he added.

Fidan said the meeting’s objective was to assess conditions for a potential ceasefire, explore a possible summit between the Russian and Ukrainian presidents, and discuss further prisoner exchanges. At the previous Istanbul meeting in May the two sides agreed on a 1,000-for-1,000 POW swap that was carried out shortly afterwards.

Medinsky confirmed that Moscow had received Ukraine’s draft memorandum for a peace accord in advance of the talks, and said Russia would present its own version along with “unspecified ceasefire proposals.”

Ukraine’s delegation was led by Defence Minister Rustem Umerov. Several Ukrainian delegates arrived in combat fatigues, underscoring the ongoing intensity of the war on the ground.

Pressure has intensified on both delegations amid warnings from United States President Donald Trump, who has said Washington could step back from its role as a mediator if talks do not advance.