Russia on Thursday said it was still waiting for Ukraine to agree to attend talks in Istanbul on Monday, after Kyiv demanded Moscow send its peace terms before pledging to attend the meeting.

 

Diplomatic efforts to end the three-year conflict have gained pace in recent months, but Moscow has shown no signs of easing its bombardment of Ukraine and has repeatedly rebuffed calls for an immediate ceasefire.

 

Moscow has offered to hold a second round of direct talks with Ukraine in Istanbul on June 2, where it wants to present a so-called "memorandum" outlining its conditions for a long-term peace settlement.

 

But Ukraine said the meeting would not yield results unless it saw a copy of the memorandum in advance, a proposal that the Kremlin dismissed.

 

"As far as I know, no response has been received yet... we need to wait for a response from the Ukrainian side," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said, calling Kyiv's demand that Russia provide peace conditions up front "non-constructive".

 

Ukraine said it had already submitted its own vision of a peace settlement to Russia and demanded Moscow do the same.

 

"We continue to urge (Russia) to share this document," foreign ministry spokesperson Georgiy Tykhy said.

 

"If it's ready ... we will examine and will be ready to hold a real meaningful meeting that can bring results, that can be effective, that can be a meeting not just for the sake of a meeting," he added.

 

Moscow's refusal to send the document "suggests that it is likely filled with unrealistic ultimatums," he said.

 

“Shut the door”

Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan called on Russia and Ukraine not to "shut the door" on dialogue ahead of the anticipated second round of talks in Istanbul.

 

Negotiations on May 16 – the first direct talks on ending the conflict in more than three years – yielded only a 1,000-for-1,000 prisoner exchange and promises to stay in touch.

 

Kyiv accused Moscow of outlining unrealistic demands, including calls to cede territory it still controls.

 

Moscow's “special operation”, launched in February 2022, has resulted in tens of thousands of deaths and the destruction of large parts of eastern and southern Ukraine.

 

The Kremlin has been grinding forward on the battlefield while pushing its demands for peace, which include Ukraine abandoning its NATO ambitions and giving up around a fifth of its land.

 

The Russian army said Thursday it captured three villages in Ukraine's Donetsk and Kharkiv regions in its latest advance.

 

Erdogan's foreign minister, Hakan Fidan was expected to travel to Kyiv on Thursday to meet Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, after meeting Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow on Monday.

 

US President Donald Trump, who has been pushing for a peace deal, has become increasingly frustrated with Moscow's apparent stalling and warned Wednesday he would determine within "about two weeks" whether Putin was serious about ending the fighting.

 

Local authorities in Ukraine said Thursday that Russia had fired 90 drones overnight.

 

At least seven people were killed in drone, missile and artillery strikes across five frontline Ukrainian regions, officials said.

 

Russia said it had repelled 48 Ukrainian drones overnight, including three near Moscow.

 

Trump told reporters he was "very disappointed" at Russia's deadly bombardment during the negotiating process, but rebuffed calls to impose more sanctions on Moscow.

 

Kyiv has accused Russia of deliberately stalling the peace process to pursue its offensive.

 

Zelensky earlier this week said Russia was "amassing" more than 50,000 troops on the front line around Sumy, where Moscow's army has captured a number of settlements as it seeks to establish what Putin has called a "buffer zone" inside Ukrainian territory.