Key Points – Russia-Ukraine peace talks in Istanbul this week (early June) made little progress towards ending the war, with Russia presenting maximalist demands for Ukrainian territorial surrender and neutrality, which Kyiv rejects.
-This diplomatic stalemate followed Ukraine’s audacious “Operation Spiderweb” drone strike (June 1st), which reportedly damaged over 40 Russian strategic aircraft deep inside Russia using ingeniously deployed FPV drones.
-While President Zelenskyy remains defiant, calling for increased pressure on Moscow, President Putin has rejected direct talks with him and vowed retaliation for the drone attack, suggesting the conflict will continue despite Ukraine’s demonstrated capability to inflict significant damage.
The Ukraine War Just Won’t End
Russia and Ukraine held “peace talks” this week in Istanbul, although they did not make much progress when it came to bringing about the end of the more than three-year war.
Russia later released its list of demands, which were maximalist and not anything Ukraine would ever accept.
Also, this week, Ukraine launched Operation Spider Web, a daring drone attack, which damaged more than 40 Russian airplanes, worth billions of dollars, across the country. In a phone call with President Donald Trump, according to Trump’s Truth Social post, Russian President Vladimir Putin vowed to retaliate militarily against Ukraine.
It’s not clear whether any attack in a years-long war is “retaliation” for any other attack, as opposed to just offenses that happen in wars.
Speaking this week on social media, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy struck a defiant tone, in seeking support worldwide after the Istanbul talks.
“With Impunity”
“Russia has restructured its entire state, society, and economy to be able to kill people in other countries on a massive scale and with impunity,” the Ukrainian president said on X. “Many have spoken with Russia at various levels. But none of these talks have brought a reliable peace, or even stopped the war. Unfortunately, Putin feels impunity. Even after all of Russia’s horrific attacks, he is reportedly preparing yet more so-called ‘responses.’”
Zelenskyy went on to accuse Putin of “giving the finger to the entire world — to all those who still hesitate to increase pressure on it.”
“If the world reacts weakly to Putin’s threats, he interprets it as a readiness to turn a blind eye to his actions. When he does not feel strength and pressure, but instead senses weakness, he always commits new crimes. He sees such an attitude as silent permission: permission for new atrocities, new strikes, new killings.”
A Face-to-Face Meeting for Putin?
The Istanbul talks were held between delegations that Ukrainian Defense Minister Rustem Umerov and Putin aide Vladimir Medinsky led. However, Zelenskyy has called for face-to-face talks between himself and Putin.
According to the Associated Press, Zelenskyy once again made that call, but Putin has rejected it.
“How can any such (summit) meetings be conducted in such circumstances? What shall we talk about?,” Putin said in a video call with other Russian officials, according to the AP. Putin also believes, per the report, that Ukraine is only seeking a truce so that it can replenish its stockpiles to continue the war.
After Operation Spider Web
After the massive series of drone strikes that shocked the world, Breaking Defense this week looked at what this capability means for the war with Russia going forward.
The drone attack was achieved when Ukraine snuck the drones into Russia within trucks. They were hidden “under the roofs of prefabricated wooden cabins,” of the sort that are popular in Russia.
“What’s clear is that Ukraine’s creative use of cheap drones has resulted in a major asymmetrical victory, one which has left Moscow reeling — and potentially changed the world’s calculus about how small unmanned systems can be used,” the Breaking Defense report said.
“It is the complete humiliation of the Russian special services that this attack took place — and none of them caught so much as a whiff of what was going on,” a source described as a “contact in Ukraine” said of the drone attack.
It seems clear, though, that the Ukrainian side has struck a significant blow against Russia’s bomber fleet.
“If Ukraine continues to degrade Moscow’s bomber and missiles assets at this rate, the vaunted Russian VKS ability to conduct conventional strikes on its enemies — to say nothing of that leg of Moscow’s nuclear triad — will be significantly diminished,” Breaking Defense said of the attack, adding that Russian TV was not reporting about the attack anymore, by Monday.
About the Author:
Stephen Silver is an award-winning journalist, essayist and film critic, and contributor to the Philadelphia Inquirer, the Jewish Telegraphic Agency, Broad Street Review and Splice Today. The co-founder of the Philadelphia Film Critics Circle, Stephen lives in suburban Philadelphia with his wife and two sons. For over a decade, Stephen has authored thousands of articles that focus on politics, technology, and the economy. Follow him on X (formerly Twitter) at @StephenSilver, and subscribe to his Substack newsletter.
Russia’s Bomber Forces
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securocrat
June 6, 2025 at 1:59 am
If anyone is giving the finger, it is a person who’s totally like herr zelenskyy.
Zelenskyy, like adolf hitler, has no qualms betting his whole future solely on ww3.
Trump said so in his face during their meeting in the white house on feb 28 2025.
What’s the actual cause of current bloody ukro crisis.
EU and US meddling in ukraine.
As well as the feb 2014 anarchic violent coup. That led to open civil war. Which led to ‘Anti Terrorist Operation’ or gaza-style pogrom against ethnic russian inhabitants. And open warfare.
That paved the way for western govt to mass supply advanced military weapons to ukraine followed closely by NATO and US provocative or mischievous dogbarking that directly sparked the SMO.
Zelenskky was one among them.
So, who’s finger is it.
securocrat
June 6, 2025 at 2:12 am
….And open warfare.
That should read as.. ..And ww1-battlefield style open warfare.
(Where CIA and others helped ukros to build a vast intricate network of trenches and tunnels in donbass to employ attrition warfare to grind down the separatists.)
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