RUSSIA and Ukraine will hold peace talks in Istanbul tomorrow following Donald Trump’s stern warning to warmonger Vladimir Putin.
Any hopes for a breakthrough continue to appear bleak as Putin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov warned the enemies remained “diametrically opposed”.
Concerns persist that Putin might once more issue unfeasible demands and buy time while maintaining his relentless assaults and attacks on civilians.
Trump has set a deadline of August 1 for the leader to agree to a ceasefire or encounter severe tariff penalties after approving significant military aid for Ukraine.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky announced a new round of negotiations will take place in Turkey involving envoys from both sides.
Zelensky announced that he has empowered his security council head, Rustem Umerov, to convene a third critical meeting, after unsuccessful peace attempts in May and June.
He said discussions would centre on “preparations for a prisoner exchange and another meeting in Turkey with the Russian side”.
A senior Ukrainian source said talks could also begin working towards a possible historic meeting between Zelensky and Putin.
But Kremlin spokesman Peskov downplayed the likelihood of reaching any concrete outcome anytime soon.
Peskov said: “A lot of diplomatic work lies ahead.”
Last week, US president Trump vented his frustration with Putin, declaring he was “disappointed” but “not done” with the Russian tyrant.
He imposed a 50-day deadline on the despot as he ordered Putin agree to peace talks so the conflict can finally be resolved.
Instead of agreeing, a snarling Putin declined and ramped up his ground and aerial offensives across Ukraine.
A child was killed early today when a Russian glide bomb hit an apartment block in the eastern city of Kramatorsk, local officials said.
Six areas of the capital Kyiv also came under a combined drone and missile attack.
Ukrainian forces said they had pushed back more than 50 attacks in the besieged city of Pokrovsk on the eastern frontline.
Russian sabotage squads have already tried to enter the city but had been driven out, Ukraine‘s military commander, Oleksandr Syrskyi said.
Late on Monday, a kindergarten was destroyed by one of Putin’s missiles in another ruthless strike that laid bare the tyrant’s war on Ukraine’s children.
The missile slammed into the building in Kyiv — leaving a gaping crater where toddlers once played and naptime beds buried under dust.
The strike was a part of a 10-hour Russian aerial blitz that saw 426 drones and 24 missiles hurled across Ukraine overnight.
And it marked the second time in three days that NATO fighter jets were scrambled in response to the bombardments.
Ukrainian officials said at least 15 people were injured, including a 12-year-old boy, in the barrage.
The strikes came amid growing fears that Putin is preparing for an even deadlier chapter in this war.
According to German Major General Christian Freuding, Moscow is plotting a mass drone assault involving 2,000 Shahed drones, in a bid to overwhelm Ukraine’s already strained air defences.
The general warned: “We have uncovered worrying intelligence… [Russia is] significantly expanding its weapons production capacity.”
Chilling footage aired on Russian state TV showed teenagers working in a so-called “drone death factory,” with Moscow boasting about the “huge, bright workshops” churning out kamikaze drones by the hundreds.
A valiant Ukraine has hit back at the constant Russian aggression.
Kyiv’s own drone army valiantly struck Moscow for the fifth night in a row, wreaking havoc at major airports and delaying over 400 flights as Russia’s defences scrambled to respond.
