The Kremlin said on Saturday that a meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky would only be possible after both parties reached an agreement, one day after Moscow and kyiv held their first direct conversations in more than three years, which did not result in a truce.
The morning after the conversations, a Russian drone attack against a minibus that transported civilians evacuated in the East Region of Sumy killed nine people and wounded five, local authorities said.
“Yesterday, as on any day of this war, there was an opportunity to leave fire,” Zelensky wrote on social networks after the attack, adding that “Russia only retains the opportunity to continue killing.”
He reiterated his call to the allies of Ukraine to intensify the sanctions to Moscow.
“Without stronger sanctions, without stronger pressure on Russia, there will be no real diplomacy there,” said the Ukrainian president.
The first direct conversations since the spring of 2022, shortly after the large -scale invasion of Moscow in February, between Ukraine and Russia in Istanbul resulted in a specific agreement to exchange 1,000 prisoners each.
The main negotiator of Ukraine, the Minister of Defense, Rustem Umerov, said that the “next step” would be a meeting between Zelensky and Putin.
Russia said he took note of the application.
“We consider it possible, but only as a result of the work and to achieve certain results in the form of an agreement between the two parties,” said the Kremlin spokesman.
The main negotiator of Russia, Vladimir Medinsky, said that Moscow and Kyiv “would present their vision of a possible fire,” without saying when.
The Kremlin said that first the Pow SWAP must be completed and that both parties must present their visions for a high fire before fixing the next round of conversations.
“For now, we need to do what delegations agreed yesterday” in Turkiye, said spokesman Dmitry Peskov, and added that “this, of course, means first of all complete an exchange of 1,000 for 1,000.”
The head of the Military Intelligence of Ukraine, Kirillo Budanov, told the TSN station that he expected the exchange to occur next week and that he did not see obstacles to the exchange.
The fight continues
On Saturday, there were few signs of progress to stop the fight.
The bus was attacked near the city of Bilopillya, said local community Yuri Zarko to suspilne TV. A family of three died in the attack, authorities said.
In another part of the front lines, the Russian army said that its troops captured the village of Oleksandropil in the East Region of Donetsk, where some of the most intense fighting in the war are ongoing.
In addition to Sumy, Russia hit missiles and drones throughout the east of Ukraine, hitting the regions of Kherson, Kharkiv and Zaporizhzhia, killing six and hurting more than a dozen. In Kherson, the Russian bombing hit a truck with humanitarian aid on Saturday morning.
Real steps are needed
The French president, Emmanuel Macron, said he was sure that the American counterpart Donald Trump would react to Putin’s “cynicism” in Ukraine after the mortal minibus attack.
Putin refused to travel to Turkiye for the meeting. Zelensky accused him of being “fear” and Russia of not taking the “seriously” conversations.
“Yesterday in Istanbul, everyone saw a weak and not prepared Russian delegation without significant powers. This must change. We need real steps to end the war,” Zelensky said on Saturday.
The Secretary of State of the United States, Marco Rubio, welcomed the result of Istanbul’s conversations during a phone call with his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov on Saturday, said Russia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and added that Moscow was ready to continue working with the United States on the matter.
On Friday, Zelensky attended a European summit in Albania, where he urged a “strong reaction” of the world if Istanbul’s conversations failed, including new sanctions.
Macron said that European nations were coordinating with Washington in additional sanctions if Moscow continues to reject a “high unconditional fire.”
Both Moscow and Washington have talked about the need for a meeting about the conflict between Putin and the president of the United States, Donald Trump.
Trump has argued that “nothing will happen” in the conflict until he meets Putin face to face.
During Istanbul’s conversations, the Ukrainian side said Russia was making “unacceptable” territorial demands.
Moscow claims the annexation of five Ukrainian regions, four since its invasion of 2022, and Crimea, which it attached in 2014.
