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Here’s where things stand on Monday 2 June 2025:
- Russian and Ukrainian delegations are set to hold ceasefire talks in Turkiye’s largest city a day after Kyiv carried out unprecedented drone attacks across Russia. The first round of talks held last month concluded without a breakthrough, but the two sides agreed on a prisoner swap.
- In Sunday’s attack, airbases in five Russian regions were targeted, according to Russia’s Defence Ministry. Several fighter jets caught fire in the attacks, the ministry said. Other attacks were repelled and there were no casualties, it said.
- Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called the attacks “absolutely brilliant”, adding that planning for the operation had begun a year and a half ago. “Ukraine is defending itself, and rightly so – we are doing everything to make Russia feel the need to end this war.”
- Monday’s talks to be presided over by Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan comes as the two sides have escalated attacks. Explosions caused two bridges to collapse in Russia on Sunday, and at least 12 soldiers were killed in a Russian missile attack on a military base in Ukraine’s Dnipro region.
What we know about the talks schedule, delegates
The second direct talks in over two weeks comes amid efforts to end the three-year war.
The Ukrainian delegation is led by Defence Minister Rustem Umerov, according to Heorhii Tykhyi, spokesperson for the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry.
The Russian delegation is headed by Vladimir Medinsky, an aide to Russian leader Vladimir Putin, Russian state media reported.
Turkish officials said the meeting would start at 1pm local time, with Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan presiding over the talks and officials from the Turkish intelligence agency also present.
However, Ukrainian spokesperson Tykhyi said the start would be at midday local time. It was not immediately possible to clarify the discrepancy.
Ukraine, European partners coordinate ahead of Istanbul talks
Ukraine’s First Deputy Foreign Minister Sergiy Kyslytsya and delegation member Oleksandr Bevz have met with representatives of Germany, Italy, and the UK in Istanbul.
According to Foreign Ministry spokesman Heorhii Tykhyi, the meeting aimed to coordinate views on the agenda items of the Ukraine-Russia negotiations.
He added that Kyiv officials reiterated the items on their agenda.
Delegations arrive at Istanbul’s Ciragan Palace for talks
Ukrainian and Russian delegations have arrived at Istanbul’s Ciragan Palace, along with senior Turkish officials, for their second round of direct peace talks, according to the footage shared by Turkey’s state-run Anadolu Agency.
The delegations arrived in cars and entered the venue, the footage showed.
Russian delegation arrives in Istanbul: State media
The delegation, headed by Kremlin aide Vladimir Medinsky, arrived in Istanbul for ceasefire talks with Ukraine, according to the Russian state news agency RIA.
Istanbul talks: What are Ukraine and Russia’s positions?
Delegations from Kyiv and Moscow will Monday hold a second round of direct talks on the possibility of ending the war in Ukraine.
But what are their visions of what a peace settlement could look like at the negotiations?
Ceasefire
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy wants an immediate and unconditional ceasefire to cover combat on air, sea and land.
Kyiv says meaningful discussions over a long-term peace deal can only happen once fighting has paused.
“First – a full and unconditional ceasefire. Second – the release of prisoners. Third – the return of abducted children,” Zelensky said on Sunday on social media, outlining Kyiv’s priorities for Monday’s talks.
Putin has rejected Ukrainian and Western calls for an immediate ceasefire.
The Kremlin says it does not rule out agreeing some kind of ceasefire at Istanbul, but that talks should address the “root causes” and look to strike a “long-term settlement.”
For Putin, the “root causes” of the conflict are grievances with Kyiv but also the West and NATO over what Russia sees is their expansion into former Soviet or communist countries.
Moscow has demanded strict limits on Ukrainian military activity should any truce be agreed – such as a ban on mobilisation and halt to the flow of Western weapons.
On the status of annexed Ukrainian territories
Russia has repeatedly demanded it retain territory in southern and eastern Ukraine that it occupies and for Kyiv to cede even more land.
Moscow in 2022 annexed four Ukrainian regions – Donetsk, Lugansk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson – despite not having full control over them.
Russia also annexed the Crimean peninsula from Ukraine in 2014.
At a first round of talks last month, Ukraine accused Moscow of repeating those demands and threatening to accelerate a ground offensive into the Sumy and Kharkiv regions, over which Russia has made no formal claim.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has said recognition of Moscow’s ownership of these territories was “imperative” for any negotiations.
Ukraine has said it will never recognise its occupied territories, including Crimea, as Russian.
NATO and security guarantees for Ukraine
Zelenskyy has for months been calling for “security guarantees” for Ukraine to stop Russia invading again.
His top demand would be for Ukraine to be admitted to NATO, or for Ukraine to fall under the military alliance’s Article Five collective defence term.
Trump has however, dismissed the possibility of Ukraine joining the bloc and Russia says NATO membership would be “unacceptable”.
Instead, Kyiv is pushing for some other form of Western military commitment that would deter Moscow.
Britain and France are leading discussions about a possible European troop deployment to enforce any ceasefire, among a group of countries dubbed the “coalition of the willing”.
But Kyiv still wants Washington to back up any “security guarantee”.
Moscow has said it would not accept troops from NATO countries being deployed to Ukraine in any capacity.
We can’t ignore Russian threat: UK PM
The UK cannot ignore the threat posed by Russia, Prime Minister Keir Starmer has said, before the publication of a strategic defence review that is expected to call for greater readiness to fight a modern war.
“We cannot ignore the threat that Russia poses. We’ve seen what happened in Ukraine just over three years ago,” Starmer told the BBC, when asked if the UK would have to send troops to fight in a future European conflict.
Moscow says Ukraine launched more than 100 drones on Russia overnight
The Russian Defence Ministry says Ukraine launched a huge air attack overnight, using 162 drones.
In a statement, it said the air raid targeted nine regions, claiming most of the drones were either jammed or shot down.
The largest number was downed over Kursk (57 drones), followed by Belgorod (31), according to the ministry.
Russia security service thwarts Ukraine-ordered railway sabotage attempt: RIA
Russia’s security service, the FSB, has thwarted an attempted arson attack on railway transportation in the far eastern Russian region of Primorsky Krai, or Primorye, that was to be conducted on Ukraine’s order, Russia’s state RIA news agency reported on Monday.
“It was established that two 19-year-old residents of Primorsky Krai, on orders from Ukrainian special services and expecting to receive a monetary reward, committed actions aimed at setting fire to track-side relay cabinets,” RIA cited the service as saying.
Ukraine has yet to comment.
Putin ‘doesn’t quite know how to get out of the war’, US VP says
US Vice President JD Vance has expressed doubt that the Russian president has a clear strategy to end Moscow’s war on Ukraine, suggesting that Vladimir Putin may be trapped without an exit plan.
“I think President Putin, he doesn’t quite know how to get out of the war,” Vance told reporters before returning to Washington, DC, after attending Pope Leo’s inauguration.
“One open question is, is Vladimir Putin serious about negotiating peace? … He has taken some serious steps in these conversations, but we feel like we’re at a point where we’re hitting an impasse,” he added.
Vance warned about potential US disengagement if progress stalls: “That takes two to tango. I know the [US] president’s willing to do that. But if Russia is not willing to do that, then we’re eventually just going to have to say this is not our war.”
Ukrainian delegation arrives in Istanbul for ceasefire talks
Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry has announced the arrival of the officials, who are set to hold talks with Russian officials in the afternoon.
This will be the second round of direct peace talks between Kyiv and Moscow since 2022.
Ukrainian, Russian officials in Istanbul for talks
Delegations from Russia and Ukraine have arrived in Turkiye for their second round of direct peace talks in about two weeks.
The talks are expected to start in the afternoon, with the Turkish foreign minister presiding over the discussions.
The meeting comes a day after Ukraine’s security service said it launched a drone attack deep inside Russia, while Moscow pounded Ukraine with missiles and drones.
Welcome to our live coverage
Hello, and thank you for joining our live coverage of the Russia-Ukraine war, as the rival sides have escalated attacks on each other amid ceasefire efforts.
Follow this page for round-the-clock updates and analyses of the latest developments.
You can read about key events from Monday, June 2, here and here.