Zelensky Proposes Meeting Putin in Turkey

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has proposed that Russian President Vladimir Putin meet him in Turkey to discuss issues needed to end the war. He said so in an interview with the Turkish broadcaster CNN Türk. Zelensky hopes Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan will help organise the talks; the two met in Istanbul on Saturday.

According to Zelensky, issues that delegations and technical working groups cannot resolve can only be discussed at the level of heads of state. That is why he wants to meet Putin as the person who makes decisions.

The Kremlin's position

Yuri Ushakov, Putin's foreign policy aide, repeated the Kremlin's long-standing position over the weekend: if Zelensky wants to meet Putin, he must come to Moscow. Russian media report that Ushakov also said he believed Putin would respond if Zelensky phoned him.

Drone attacks continue

Meanwhile, Russia continues to attack Ukraine with drones. Ukraine's Air Force said that on Sunday, between 6:30 a.m. and 7 p.m., air defences shot down 274 of 326 attack drones launched by Russia. All six "S8000 Banderol/Dan-T" weapons were also downed; some experts call them jet-powered drones, while others describe them as small cruise missiles.

Of the 326 long-range unmanned aircraft, 55 were jet-powered, and air defences downed 46 of them. At 8:30 p.m. local time, air raid alerts of various levels were in force in 13 Ukrainian regions.

It was previously reported that overnight into Sunday Russian forces attacked Ukraine with 433 drones, of which 371 were shot down or neutralised by electronic warfare.