May 22nd 2025.
The ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine has been a source of international concern for over three years now. Recently, talks were held between the two countries' delegations in Istanbul, marking their first face-to-face engagement since 2022. However, it seems that these talks did not yield any significant breakthroughs as no further direct talks have been scheduled. The Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov stated that there is no concrete agreement about the next meetings and that they are yet to be agreed upon.
The main outcome of the talks in Turkey was an agreement to exchange 1,000 prisoners of war each, which would be the biggest such swap between the two countries. However, apart from this, there has been little progress in finding a resolution to the conflict. The US and European countries have been putting pressure on both sides to accept a ceasefire and negotiate a settlement, but this has not resulted in any significant changes. In fact, according to Ukrainian government and military analysts, Russia is preparing for a summer offensive to capture more Ukrainian land.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has stated that he is willing to work with Ukraine on a "memorandum" outlining the framework for a possible future peace treaty. However, he has also linked this possibility to a halt in Ukraine's mobilization efforts and a freeze on Western arms shipments to Kyiv. This has effectively rejected a 30-day ceasefire proposal that Ukraine has accepted. Meanwhile, the process of exchanging prisoners of war is still ongoing and is described as a "quite laborious process" that requires time.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has stated that preparations are being made for the potential prisoner exchange, which he believes is the only real result of the talks in Turkey. However, there seems to be a dispute over what was discussed during a phone call between President Trump and President Putin. While a report in the Wall Street Journal claimed that Trump told European leaders that Putin was not interested in talks, the Kremlin spokesperson has stated that they only know of President Trump's official statement, which contrasts with the article.
In addition to the talks and negotiations, the war on the ground has not stopped. The front line, which spans about 1,000 kilometers, has been a site of continuous attrition, resulting in the deaths of tens of thousands of troops from both sides. Furthermore, there have been frequent incidents of long-range drones being fired at each other's territories, causing damage and disruptions. In fact, the Russian Defense Ministry reported that they had shot down 105 Ukrainian drones overnight, including 35 over the Moscow region. This has also prompted some regions to turn off mobile internet signals for safety reasons.
The Ukrainian air force has also reported that Russia launched 128 drones at Ukraine overnight. This has resulted in damage to an industrial facility, power lines, and several private homes in Ukraine's central Dnipropetrovsk region. In the capital city of Kyiv, a Russian drone even landed on the grounds of a school, causing concern for the safety of the students and staff. As tensions continue to rise and both sides engage in acts of aggression, it seems that the war between Russia and Ukraine is far from over.
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