It was already hard to imagine a breakthrough emerging from the direct talks between Russia and Ukraine set to be renewed in Istanbul on Monday.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy hailed a “brilliant operation” by Ukraine’s Security Service that destroyed over 40 Russian aircraft deep inside Russian territory. The attack reportedly hit 34% of Russia’s strategic cruise missile carriers and was executed across three time zones.

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov stressed that a high-level summit would require concrete outcomes from the negotiations between the Russian and Ukrainian delegations.

President Volodymyr Zelensky spoke by phone with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on May 30 to discuss the next round of peace talks between Ukraine and Russia, tentatively scheduled for June 2 in Istanbul.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has proposed a trilateral meeting between himself, U.S. President Donald Trump, and Russian President Vladimir Putin to break the deadlock on ending Moscow's invasion.

Donald Trump appears to have set a two-week deadline for Russian president Vladimir Putin to prove he is serious about wanting to end the war in Ukraine.On being asked in the Oval Office yesterday if he thought Mr Putin wanted to end the war,

President Volodymyr Zelensky expressed skepticism on May 30 that the next round of peace talks between Ukraine and Russia, tentatively scheduled for June 2 in Istanbul, will produce any results due to what he described as Moscow's deliberate inaction.

Ukrainian president said that despite tricky relationship with Donald Trump, the White House is more irritated by Vladimir Putin.