RUSSIA: Kremlin Says No Response From Kyiv To 2 June Talks Offer

Reuters reporting comments from Kremlin spox Dmitry Peskov. Confirms Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov's comments from 28 May, that Russia has proposed a second set of direct talks with Ukraine to take place on Monday, 2 June in Istanbul, Turkey. Peskov says that Moscow has had no response from Kyiv. Claims that the talks would be intended to start discussions on the draft memoranda for a peace accord. Peskov says that it is "not constructive" to suggest that Russia is delaying the process. Peskov: "The main thing right now is to continue the direct Russia-Ukraine talks." Peskov says there are "currently no plans for [President Vladimir] Putin to speak to [US President Donald] Trump."

• Lavrov held a phone call with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on 28 May, their first direct interaction since meeting in Saudi Arabia in February. The Russian Foreign Ministry readout says Lavrov informed Rubio of "the preparation by the Russian side of specific proposals for the next round of direct Russian-Ukrainian negotiations in Istanbul." Brief comments from the US State Dep't say Rubio "reiterated President Trump’s calls for constructive, good faith dialogue with Ukraine as the only path to ending this war."
• The prospect of talks taking place, let alone a workable set of memoranda on a peace agreement being reached, looks particularly slim. In recent days, Russia has launched some of the largest missile and drone attacks since the start of its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, claiming these come as a response to mass Ukrainian drone strikes deep into Russian territory.