A second round of peace talks between Russia and Ukraine have ended without a major breakthrough, and only an agreement between the warring sides to swap more prisoners of war. The Ukrainian negotiators said Russia again rejected an "unconditional ceasefire" - a key demand by Kyiv and its allies in Europe and the US.

Drones are all over the battlefield in Ukraine, prompting NATO militaries to reexamine how they train for future wars.

The strikes help Kyiv "negotiate from a position of strength," Oleksandr Merezhko, the head of Ukraine's parliamentary foreign affairs committee, told Newsweek.

Ukraine suspects Russia is not really interested in pausing the conflict and ending the war, and the head of the country’s delegation, Defence Minister Rustem Umerov, said the key points could only be resolved at face-to-face talks between President Zelensky and President Putin.

The second recent round of direct discussions, in Istanbul, resulted in an agreement to trade more prisoners, but produced few steps toward ending the fighting.

Delegations from Russia and Ukraine met in Turkey for their second round of direct peace talks in just over two weeks.

Russian and Ukrainian delegates are meeting in Istanbul on Monday for their second set of direct peace talks, a day after Kyiv launched a shock drone attack on Russia’s nuclear-capable bombers.

The drone strikes on Russian air force bases weaken Moscow’s ability to wage war on its neighbor and undermine its capacity to threaten more distant rivals.