Key Takeaways from the ISW:
- Ukrainian and Russian delegations met in Istanbul on June 2 and only reached agreements about prisoner of war (POW) exchanges. Russia’s refusal to give Ukraine its memorandum with its terms for a peace settlement before the meeting ensured that the meeting was largely unproductive and further protracted the negotiation process.
- Ukrainian and Russian media published the major points of both sides’ memorandums on June 1 and 2, respectively.
- Russia’s memorandum reflects the Kremlin’s long-standing public demands for Ukraine to make significant territorial and political concessions while Russia offers no concessions of its own.
- The Russian delegation dismissed Russia’s systemic kidnapping of Ukrainian children.
- Russian forces appear to be intensifying efforts to widen the frontline in northern Sumy Oblast along three axes of advance north and northeast of Sumy City.
- Open-source analysts continue to clarify the battlefield damage following the Ukrainian long-range drone strike series on June 1.
- Ukrainian forces recently advanced near Velyka Novosilka. Russian forces recently advanced near Lyman, Chasiv Yar, and Toretsk.
Authors: Daria Novikov, Anna Harvey, Olivia Gibson, Christina Harward, and George Barros.
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