New Delhi: As smoke still rises from scorched Russian airbases, two delegations make their way to Istanbul – not with olive branches, but with blueprints and battle scars.
Ukraine’s drone strikes, a long-range assault code-named ‘Spider’s Web’, have sent shockwaves through Russia’s strategic air command just hours before peace negotiators sit down for an important second round of talks. The timing is no coincidence.
Targeting Russian aviation strongholds as far as 4,000 kilometers from Ukraine’s borders, Sunday’s drone blitz was hailed by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy as a “brilliant result” and a historic milestone. Ukraine claims it knocked out over 40 aircraft, including bombers and early-warning planes – the aircraft believed to be central to attacks on Ukrainian cities.
But this was no spur-of-the-moment counterstrike. It was the climax of 18 months of covert planning, drone smuggling and precise execution by Ukraine’s Security Service.
Zelenskyy called it Ukraine’s longest-range operation so far and one that “will be in history books”.
And now, with the smoke still settling and the world watching, both Kyiv and Moscow are set to meet again in the halls of diplomacy, not the theater of war.
What Ukraine Is Bringing to the Table for Peace Talks
As the Istanbul negotiations resume today, the mood is anything but hopeful. Ukraine arrives with a detailed peace roadmap, a document obtained by Reuters that lays out a multi-stage path to a ceasefire and, potentially, to an endgame in Europe’s most devastating war since the World War-II.
Ukraine is going to offer a 30-day ceasefire to halt hostilities and allow humanitarian actions such as prisoner exchanges, the return of Ukrainian children and a proposal for a direct Zelenskyy-Putin summit – a meeting that has long been theorised but never realised.
The proposal also aims to expand the scope of diplomacy by involving the United States and European powers and framing the resolution not just as a Ukraine-Russia matter, but a continental turning point with global stakes.
But Kyiv is not backing down from its red lines. It reiterates demands for no restrictions on Ukraine’s post-war defense capabilities, no recognition of Russian territorial control and full reparations for war damages
It can further propose current front-line positions serve as a starting point for territorial talks – a suggestion that could further complicate already fragile diplomacy.
Russia’s Silence, Medinsky’s Hint
Russia has so far formally responded to the Ukrainian proposal. Asked about the drone strikes and whether they would impact Monday’s discussions, Russian negotiator Vladimir Medinsky replied, “Wait for tomorrow.”
It signals anything from quiet preparation to explosive retaliation.
The Kremlin’s recent rhetoric has hinted at openness to a second round of Istanbul talks, even as it grapples with the embarrassment and potential military fallout of Ukraine’s drone offensive.
For Moscow, Sunday may go down as a “black day for aviation”, as one pro-Russian military blog put it. For Kyiv, it is something closer to a warning shot – a message that Ukraine’s hand at the table is not weak and that its reach, both militarily and diplomatically, is growing.
Diplomacy in Drones’ Shadow
It is hard to miss the symbolism. Just as diplomats prepare to exchange paper in Istanbul, unmanned drones, smuggled and hidden in trucks, have delivered a different kind of message across Russian skies.
The Istanbul summit is not only about peace terms, it is about leverage. And with Operation Spider’s Web, Kyiv is making the case that battlefield innovation can balance political inequality and that even a besieged nation can dictate terms when it plays its cards right.
Whether the second round of talks ends in progress or deadlock, the world will be watching. Not just for what is said behind closed doors but for what happens next in the skies above.
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