Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy accused Russia on Friday of deliberately sabotaging peace efforts ahead of proposed talks in Istanbul, warning that Moscow's actions signal it has "no intention" of ending the war.
After meeting Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan in Kyiv, Zelenskyy praised Ankara and President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan for backing Ukraine’s push for a "just and lasting peace." He credited Turkish mediation for a previous prisoner swap that secured the release of 1,000 Ukrainian captives.
"The return of all Ukrainians held by Russia remains one of our top priorities," Zelenskyy said, while blasting Moscow for ignoring ceasefire appeals and failing to submit a promised memorandum outlining its peace terms.
"Russia continues its killings and has offered no document, neither to us nor to Türkiye, since the 1,000-for-1,000 exchange," he said. "For talks to matter, we need clarity on the agenda and solid preparation."
A new round of negotiations is tentatively scheduled for June 2 in Istanbul, building on a May 16 agreement to exchange prisoners and draft peace frameworks.
Ukraine insists the draft be shared before the meeting; Russia says it will present the document during the talks.
Meanwhile, the war's toll worsened Saturday.
Russian missile and drone strikes killed at least two people, including a 9-year-old girl, and wounded others across Ukraine. Kyiv's air force said Russia launched 109 drones and five missiles overnight; 42 drones and three missiles were intercepted, and another 30 drones crashed without impact.
Zaporizhzhia Gov. Ivan Fedorov said the girl was killed in Dolynka, a front-line village, where a blast flattened one house and damaged several others. In Kherson, Gov. Oleksandr Prokudin reported a man was killed by Russian shelling.
Russia’s Defense Ministry claimed new territorial gains, including the villages of Novopil in Donetsk and Vodolahy in northern Sumy. Ukrainian authorities ordered mandatory evacuations in 11 more Sumy settlements, raising the total to 213 as Russia presses its offensive near the border.
Zelenskyy said 50,000 Russian troops have amassed near Sumy, aiming to carve out a buffer zone. Ukraine’s army chief, Oleksandr Syrskyi, said Russian forces are focusing their main push on Pokrovsk, Toretsk, Lyman, and the Sumy border.
Syrskyi also claimed Ukrainian troops still hold positions in Russia’s Kursk region – a statement Moscow denies, insisting it expelled Ukrainian forces in April after a surprise incursion last year.
"The enemy is holding its best units near Kursk, which it had planned to use in the east," Syrskyi said.
Inside Russia, Ukrainian drone strikes hit civilian areas. Acting Gov. Alexander Khinshtein said 14 people, including four children, were injured in apartment buildings in the Kursk region’s Rylsk town and Artakovo village.
Back in Kyiv, presidential adviser Andrii Yermak said Ukraine is ready for Monday’s Istanbul talks but stressed Russia must first provide the missing memorandum.
"The Russians are withholding it for no clear reason," Zelenskyy echoed. "This lack of clarity undermines diplomacy."
Russia has yet to respond.
