Russian and Ukrainian officials convened in Istanbul on Wednesday for their third round of peace talks . These are the first major negotiations to be held since U.S. President Donald Trump demanded that Moscow agree to a cease-fire deal by early September or else risk new sanctions and “secondary tariffs.” Although neither side appears willing to soften their demands—meaning that any significant breakthrough is unlikely—Wednesday’s talks will likely serve as an early litmus test on how seriously the Kremlin views Trump’s threats.

Welcome back to World Brief, where we’re looking at a lack of progress is Russia-Ukraine peace talks, the United States clinching a trade deal with Japan , and a landmark climate change ruling at the International Court of Justice .

Welcome back to World Brief, where we’re looking at a lack of progress is Russia-Ukraine peace talks, the United States clinching a trade deal with Japan, and a landmark climate change ruling at the International Court of Justice.

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Breakthroughs ‘Hardly Possible’

Russian and Ukrainian officials convened in Istanbul on Wednesday for their third round of peace talks. These are the first major negotiations to be held since U.S. President Donald Trump demanded that Moscow agree to a cease-fire deal by early September or else risk new sanctions and “secondary tariffs.” Although neither side appears willing to soften their demands—meaning that any significant breakthrough is unlikely—Wednesday’s talks will likely serve as an early litmus test on how seriously the Kremlin views Trump’s threats.

According to Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov, this week’s talks will cover both sides’ positions, as outlined in draft memorandums, as well as the potential for further prisoner exchanges. Still, expectations remain low. “There is no reason to expect any breakthroughs in the category of miracles—it is hardly possible in the current situation,” Peskov said.

Ukraine is demanding a full, immediate cease-fire from Russia before it agrees to discuss a permanent peace deal. Russia, on the other hand, maintains that it will only lay down its arms once a peace agreement is signed. Moscow also seeks total control of the Ukrainian territories that it occupies as well as for Kyiv to agree to limits on its military; however, Ukraine has refused to budge on these conditions, arguing that Russia must respect Ukraine’s sovereignty.

Ahead of Wednesday’s meeting, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky suggested that the best way to make progress in talks was for him to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin personally. “A meeting at the leadership level is needed to truly ensure peace, lasting peace,” Zelensky said. However, the Kremlin rejected such a proposal on Tuesday, with Peskov saying that there is “a lot of work to be done before we can talk about the possibility of some top-level meetings.”

Neither side has abandoned talks, though, which analysts suggest is largely out of fear of angering the White House. Last week, Trump endorsed the sale of U.S. weapons to Ukraine via European NATO allies, and Ukraine is desperate to maintain U.S. military and economic support. At the same time, Russia aims to minimize any new U.S. sanctions or other punitive measures as well as prevent Trump from delivering even deadlier weapons to Kyiv.

In May, Russia and Ukraine agreed to exchange 1,000 soldiers each as part of their largest prisoner swap deal since the war began in February 2022. And in June, both sides began the process of returning the bodies of killed soldiers and publicly shared their lists of conditions for a peace deal. Zelensky has been clear that he seeks to prioritize the return of Ukrainian children and more prisoners of war in this latest round of talks.

Wednesday’s talks have an added stressor compared to past negotiations, though. Experts expect there to be greater scrutiny of the dialogue from within Ukraine, as Wednesday’s talks were the first held since chief Ukrainian negotiator Rustem Umerov was removed from his post as defense minister in a cabinet reshuffle. And they come amid widespread protests in Ukraine—the first since the conflict began—against Ukrainian legislation effectively eliminating the independence of the country’s anti-corruption agency.

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What We’re Following

U.S.-Japan trade deal. Trump announced a major trade deal with Japan late Tuesday. Under the new framework, Washington will impose a 15 percent tariff on imported Japanese goods—a significant drop from the 25 percent rate that Trump threatened to impose come Aug. 1—and Tokyo will invest $550 billion in the U.S. economy, particularly in its automotive and agricultural sectors (specifically rice).

Japan is “the first in the world to be able to reduce tariffs on automobiles and auto parts without volume restrictions,” Japanese tariff negotiator Ryosei Akazawa told reporters late Tuesday, with Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba heralding the deal as “the lowest figure to date for a country that has a trade surplus with the United States.” Securing a U.S. trade deal was a top priority for Ishiba, whose governing power was weakened after his ruling coalition suffered a debilitating defeat in upper house elections over the weekend.

Global stock markets rallied on Wednesday following the trade deal’s announcement. As of midday Wednesday Eastern Daylight Time, Japan’s Nikkei index had risen roughly 3.5 percent, and U.S. Treasury yields had reversed their three-day slide. The S&P 500 and Dow Jones indices also recorded increases.

Landmark climate ruling. The International Court of Justice (ICJ) issued a landmark ruling on Wednesday stating that countries are obligated to address the “urgent and existential threat” of climate change. “States must cooperate to achieve concrete emission reduction targets,” judge Yuji Iwasawa said in a readout of the top court’s advisory opinion, adding that living in a healthy environment is a human right and that a state’s failure to comply with climate change treaties is thereby a breach of international law.

This was the ICJ’s first nonbinding ruling on climate change. Specifically, the ICJ ordered countries to prioritize national climate plans and work to achieve the aims of the 2015 Paris Agreement, whose signatories have committed to take action to keep global warming below 1.5 degrees Celsius (or 2.7 degrees Fahrenheit) above preindustrial levels. As of this year, 194 parties plus the European Union had ratified the nonbinding agreement; the United States withdrew from the agreement for a second time in January, when Trump took office.

Climate activists celebrated Wednesday’s ICJ ruling as a major victory for small island and low-lying countries, which have repeatedly urged other nations to help bear the responsibility of combating climate change. According to the International Energy Agency, China, the United States, and India are the three largest carbon emitters in the world as of July 2025.

Gaza’s hunger crisis. More than 100 rights organizations demanded on Wednesday that Israel allow the unimpeded delivery of aid into Gaza, citing reports that the territory’s hunger crisis is spiraling out of control. Issued by groups including Mercy Corps, the Norwegian Refugee Council, and Amnesty International, the joint statement calls for an “immediate and permanent ceasefire” and the opening of all land crossings into Gaza.

“As the Israeli government’s siege starves the people of Gaza, aid workers are now joining the same food lines, risking being shot just to feed their families,” the joint statement said. “With supplies now totally depleted, humanitarian organisations are witnessing their own colleagues and partners waste away before their eyes.”

The joint declaration comes one day after foreign ministers from 28 nations denounced Israel’s “inhumane killing of civilians,” calling the Israeli- and U.S.-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) a “dangerous” aid delivery model that “fuels instability and deprives Gazans of human dignity.” Israeli forces have killed more than 1,000 Palestinians seeking food aid since late May, mostly at or near GHF locations, according to the United Nations’ human rights office.

Odds and Ends

Indian police arrested a man on Tuesday for falsely posing as an ambassador of a bogus embassy near New Delhi, a senior official confirmed on Wednesday. Authorities said that Harshvardhan Jain, 47, claimed to be an ambassador or advisor for the fictitious nations of “West Arctica,” “Seborga,” and “Lodonia,” among others. He allegedly promised people overseas employment in exchange for money and is facing charges of forgery, money laundering, impersonation, and possessing false documents. Authorities also uncovered four cars bearing fake diplomatic plates, nearly 4.5 million Indian rupees (roughly $52,095), other foreign currencies in cash, fake seals of India’s Foreign Ministry and those of almost three dozen other nations, and several doctored photos of Jain with world leaders.

Russian and Ukrainian delegations held a third round of peace talks on Wednesday evening at the Ciragan Palace in Istanbul, Türkiye, during which the two sides agreed on another prisoner exchange.

Russian presidential aide Vladimir Medinsky and Secretary of Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council Rustem Umerov led the Russian and Ukrainian delegations, respectively.

After the talks, Medinsky told reporters that Russia and Ukraine agreed to exchange 1,200 prisoners of war each.

Russia has returned the bodies of 7,000 fallen Ukrainian soldiers and is ready to return 3,000 more, he said.

He also said that the Russian side proposed establishing three online working groups with Ukraine to address political, humanitarian, and military issues.

A meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is not being considered until certain processes are completed, he added.

Following the talks, Zelensky wrote on social media platform X that the ninth stage of prisoner exchange took place “today,” which involved more than 1,000 people from the Ukrainian side, including those “seriously ill and severely wounded.”

“It is important that the exchanges are ongoing,” he wrote.

For his part, Umerov said that in this round of negotiations, Ukraine proposed to hold a leaders’ meeting to end the conflict by the end of August. In addition to the Ukrainian and Russian leaders, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and U.S. President Donald Trump will also be invited to the meeting. At the same time, Ukraine signaled willingness to cease fire during the negotiations, especially proposing to stop attacks on key and civilian infrastructure.

Umerov said that Ukraine and Russia have held several meetings and have made some progress in humanitarian efforts, but no substantial breakthrough has been made in negotiations over ceasefire. Ukraine is gradually advancing relevant work according to its priorities. Among them, the interests of the people, achieving a ceasefire and facilitating a meeting between the leaders have always been Ukraine’s priorities.

In his opening remarks to the talks, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan urged the two delegations to engage in result-oriented negotiations aimed at achieving a ceasefire and ultimately ending the war.

Fidan said their goal is to end the bloody war, which has come at a heavy cost, as soon as possible.

While the previous two rounds of talks in Istanbul — held on May 16 and June 2 — led to the exchange of thousands of war prisoners and the bodies of fallen soldiers, they produced little progress toward a ceasefire.

Russia, Ukraine conclude 3rd round of peace talks in Istanbul

Russia and Ukraine on Wednesday concluded their third round of Istanbul peace talks in less than an hour, an Anadolu correspondent reported.

The meeting between delegations followed contacts between their heads, starting around 8.37 p.m. local time (1737GMT) and ending around 9.16 (1816GMT).

Following the meeting, Vladimir Medinsky, head of the Russian delegation, said Russia suggested forming three online working groups, each of them addressing different subject areas – political, humanitarian, and military.

He also said the sides agreed to swap 1,200 troops being held prisoner, and Moscow proposed exchanging not only military personnel but also civilians – some 30 people that Ukraine captured in Russia’s Kursk region last year.

Medinsky also said Russia so far has returned around 7,000 bodies of fallen Ukrainian soldiers and offered to transfer 3,000 more, and receive any number of its own deceased soldiers from Ukraine.

Ukraine proposed direct talks within weeks between Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Vladimir Putin, but Russia tempered prospects for progress.

Russia and Ukraine have discussed further prisoner swaps during brief talks in Istanbul, but the sides remained far apart on ceasefire terms and a possible meeting of their leaders.

“We have progress on the humanitarian track, with no progress on a cessation of hostilities,” Ukraine’s chief delegate Rustem Umerov said after talks that lasted just 40 minutes.

He said Ukraine had proposed a meeting before the end of August between Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskiy and Russian President Vladimir Putin. He added: “By agreeing to this proposal, Russia can clearly demonstrate its constructive approach.”

Russia’s chief delegate Vladimir Medinsky said the point of a leaders’ meeting should be to sign an agreement, not to “discuss everything from scratch”.

He renewed Moscow’s call for a series of short ceasefires of 24-48 hours to enable the retrieval of bodies. Ukraine says it wants an immediate and much longer ceasefire.

The talks took place just over a week after U.S. President Donald Trump threatened heavy new sanctions on Russia and countries that buy its exports unless a peace deal was reached within 50 days.

There was no sign of any progress towards that goal, although both sides said there was discussion of further humanitarian exchanges following a series of prisoner swaps, the latest of which took place on Wednesday.

Medinsky said the negotiators agreed to exchange at least 1,200 more prisoners of war from each side, and Russia had offered to hand over another 3,000 Ukrainian bodies.

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He said Moscow was working through a list of 339 names of Ukrainian children that Kyiv accuses it of abducting. Russia denies that charge and says it has offered protection to children separated from their parents during the war.

“Some of the children have already been returned back to Ukraine. Work is under way on the rest. If their legal parents, close relatives, representatives are found, these children will immediately return home,” Medinsky said.

Umerov said Kyiv was expecting “further progress” on POWs, adding: “We continue to insist on the release of civilians, including children.” Ukrainian authorities say at least 19,000 children have been forcibly deported.

‘End this bloody war’

The talks on Wednesday, the first meeting in seven weeks, come with Moscow under growing pressure from US President Donald Trump to agree to end the war or face tough new sanctions.

Opening the meeting, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said he hoped the parties would make progress based on documents they exchanged at their last encounter in June to “end this bloody war as soon as possible”.

“The ultimate goal here is, of course, a ceasefire that will pave the way for peace,” Fidan said.

The two sides previously met in the Turkish city in May and June, but at those talks managed to agree only on other exchanges of prisoners and soldiers’ bodies.

Trump last week gave Russia 50 days to end the war or face sanctions, but the Kremlin has not indicated it is willing to compromise.

Prior to the talks, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said that he expected the negotiations to be “very difficult”.

“No one expects an easy road,” Peskov told reporters.

Previous rounds of talks have led to a series of exchanges of prisoners of war and the bodies of fallen soldiers.

But they failed to produce a ceasefire, as Russian negotiators refused to drop hardline demands that were not acceptable to Ukraine, including ceding four Ukrainian regions Russia claims as its own and rejecting Western military support.

Bloodshed continues

The talks come as Russia continues its bloody offensive against its neighbour, with its forces mounting sustained efforts to break through at eastern and northeastern points on the 1,000km (620-mile) front line.

On Wednesday, Russia’s Defence Ministry said its forces had captured the settlement of Varachyne in Ukraine’s northeast Sumy region, about 6km (3.7 miles) from the border. In recent weeks, Putin announced his intention to create a “buffer zone” in the Sumy region by occupying Ukrainian border areas.

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In other recent violence, Russian shelling of the southern Ukrainian city of Kherson killed a 66-year-old woman overnight, the dpa news agency reported, quoting regional military governor Oleksandr Prokudin. Three people, including two 13-year-olds, were injured, he said on Telegram.

The Ukrainian Air Force said Moscow had launched 71 drones and decoys overnight, of which 45 were intercepted or brought down, the agency reported.

WASHINGTON — Ukrainian and Russian officials ended their third round of peace negotiations in under an hour Wednesday — falling short of establishing a cease-fire but agreeing to a prison swap.

The talks took place in Istanbul just over a week after President Trump threatened Russian President Vladimir Putin with “very severe tariffs” if he doesn’t commit to a cease-fire in Ukraine within 50 days.

The anticipated talks lasted about 40 minutes, according to Russian news agency TASS.

4 Putin aide Vladimir Medinsky, second from left, at the peace talks in Istanbul on July 23, 2025. Getty Images

The two sides agreed to have a prisoner exchange of 1,200 people, National Security and Defense Council Secretary Rustem Umerov said, The Kyiv Independent reported.

“We are working on priority issues. Our priority is always people, cease-fire and meeting of leaders,” Umerov said after the talks.

The Ukrainian side also proposed a meeting between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Putin. If such a sitdown happens, it would be the first time the leaders would speak since the start of the war on Feb. 24, 2022.

Putin aide Vladimir Medinsky said topics of discussion would first have to be identified for Putin to agree to a face-to-face negotiation, per The Kyiv Independent.

Medinsky said Moscow instead put forth having three online working groups to address political, military and humanitarian topics.

4 In this photo provided by the Ukrainian Emergency Service, responders work to extinguish a fire following a Russian attack in Odesa on July 22, 2025. AP

4 President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky attends the parliament session in Kyiv on July 17, 2025. AP

Zelensky has repeatedly expressed his desire to meet with Putin, but the Russian side has been tepid and has only sent lower-level officials so far.

The three negotiations thus far have successfully led to several prisoner exchanges, but have not brought about an end to the brutal war, as Moscow continues to drone strike Ukrainian cities.

The Kremlin indicated its desire to stick to its “goals” before going into the negotiations, with Putin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov telling reporters on Sunday that Moscow is steadfast on holding up their interests.

“The main thing for us is to achieve our goals. Our goals are clear,” Peskov said.

Peskov was likely referring to a “peace memorandum” that the Russian delegation handed to their Ukrainian counterparts during the second round of talks on June 2.

The demands included Ukraine officially recognizing Russia’s annexation of Crimea, and the full Russian annexation of Kherson, Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia and Luhansk oblasts.

Under the demands, Ukraine would have to remove its troops from the four oblasts — and then demobilize the entire country, end all aspirations of joining NATO and other military alliances, make Russian the official language of Ukraine and ban additional Western military supplies and intelligence sharing.

Meanwhile, Zelensky has stressed that Ukraine needs to have security guarantees in place to ensure Moscow doesn’t invade again. He’s also maintained that Crimea is a part of Ukraine.

4 A resident inspects a part of a damaged car at the site of the Russian drone strike, amid in Odesa, Ukraine, on July 22, 2025. REUTERS

The three rounds of talks began after increasing pressure from Trump, who has promised to bring about the end of the war.

Trump announced July 14 that the US would be sending weapons to Ukraine via NATO, which would be funding the “billions” worth of equipment. The announcement included a mounting threat toward Putin — secondary sanctions on Russia if no peace was met in 50 days.

Putin has not publicly acknowledged Trump’s threat, while Zelensky told The Post in a July 16 interview that he would like to see Trump ramp up the pressure more.

“Putin has wasted President Trump’s time,” Zelensky charged. “I would very much like to see the United States, the Congress and the president put some pressure on this situation with sanctions and so the sooner, the faster it can be done, the better.”