Istanbul talks came after a day of strikes

What did diplomacy achieve on 2 June 2025, a day after some of the most intense fighting of the war? Russia and Ukraine held further negotiations in Istanbul, Turkey, and agreed a prisoner of war exchange. Officials confirmed that all sick and severely wounded prisoners, along with those younger than 25, would be exchanged. The two sides also exchanged ceasefire proposals.

The day before

The talks followed a series of events on 1 June 2025. Ukraine said at least 40 Russian warplanes, including several strategic bombers, had been destroyed or damaged by drone attacks on four air bases in Russia. The operation, known as Operation Spiderweb, was later described as a covert attack by the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU), using drones concealed in and launched from trucks on Russian territory. According to that later account, the targets were Long-Range Aviation assets at five air bases: Belaya, Dyagilevo, Ivanovo Severny, Olenya and Ukrainka.

On the same day Russia launched what was reported as its largest drone attack on Ukraine since the start of the war: 472 drones and seven ballistic missiles. A Russian missile strike on a training camp in Dnipropetrovsk Oblast killed twelve Ukrainian servicemembers and injured 60. The commander of the Ground Forces of Ukraine, Mykhailo Drapatyi, submitted a resignation request after the incident.

What the Istanbul round meant

The negotiators met against this backdrop of heavy strikes on both sides. The concrete result was humanitarian: the exchange covered the most vulnerable prisoners, the sick and severely wounded, and the youngest, those under 25. The exchange of ceasefire proposals showed that each side was willing to set out its position on halting the fighting in the same room.

The proposals themselves marked the distance still to be covered. Later accounts of the wider peace effort describe Russia's president as seeking recognition of occupied land as Russian, guarantees that Ukraine would never join NATO, a curtailed Ukrainian military and the lifting of sanctions. Ukraine's president, by those accounts, sought a ceasefire, full withdrawal of Russian troops, the return of prisoners and abducted children, prosecution of Russian leaders for war crimes and security guarantees. Those positions were far apart, and a prisoner swap was the area where agreement proved possible on 2 June 2025.

A day in context

Taken together, 1 and 2 June 2025 showed a war fought on two tracks at once. On the battlefield, Ukraine claimed a deep strike on Russian air power, while Russia struck Ukrainian territory with a record drone attack and hit a training camp, with heavy casualties. At the negotiating table in Istanbul, the outcome was limited but tangible: a defined group of prisoners due to be exchanged and ceasefire proposals on record from both sides.