Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and his Ukrainian counterpart Dmytro Kuleba could meet within the next two weeks to negotiate an end to hostilities.
“There could be a higher-level meeting, at least at the foreign ministerial level, in about a week or two,” Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said in a televised interview today. “The important thing is that the two sides sit together and reach an agreement on a permanent ceasefire.”
Cavusoglu also expressed Turkey’s willingness to hold a high-level meeting between Russian and Ukrainian officials. “We want to hold the foreign minister’s meeting as a sincere mediator,” he said.
Foreign Minister Cavusoglu said the March 29 talks in Istanbul had achieved the most significant progress in diplomatic efforts between Russia and Ukraine ever.
“Is everything over? No. Some steps have been taken to reduce tensions, although we haven’t seen significant progress on the ground. Some say it was just a tactical move, a Some are skeptical, and we are being cautious,” he said.
The Turkish foreign minister also praised Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich, who was present at the talks in Istanbul, for his “useful role” in efforts to end hostilities.
Russia’s RIA news agency later quoted a statement from the country’s foreign ministry as saying that Moscow would not refuse a foreign ministerial meeting with Ukraine, but stressed that any exchange must be substantive.
Turkey, which shares the Black Sea coast with both Russia and Ukraine, is seeking to maintain good relations with both and has offered to mediate since Moscow launched the military operation. Turkey is a traditional ally of Ukraine and has supplied it with Bayraktar drones that Ukraine uses in hostilities.
Russia on February 24 launched a special military operation to “de-arm and de-fascist Ukraine”. After the March 29 talks in Turkey, Russia announced a “strong reduction” in military activities near Kiev and Chernihiv because the two sides had “meaningful” discussions.
The Russian side said that Ukraine announced it was ready to fulfill the requirements that Moscow has insisted for many years, including giving up ambitions to join NATO, maintaining neutrality, not possessing nuclear weapons and other types of weapons. other weapons of mass destruction, pledge not to accept foreign troops or military bases on their territory.
However, the Ukrainian side proposed to “temporarily set aside” the issue of Crimea and the separatist territories in the Donbass in negotiations. Meanwhile, Russia affirmed that it still holds the demand for Ukraine to recognize Crimea as part of Russia and recognize the independence of two breakaway territories in eastern Ukraine.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said that negotiations with Russia are still ongoing, but only in words, with no concrete results. According to him, the Russian military is concentrated on the Donbass to prepare for new attacks, and Ukraine is “ready for this situation”.
Ukraine’s Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk announced yesterday that the government will send 45 buses to evacuate civilians from the city of Mariupol, where the Russian Defense Ministry has announced a ceasefire.
“We received a notification from the International Committee of the Red Cross that Russia has confirmed its readiness to send a humanitarian convoy to the city of Mariupol through the city of Berdiansk, which is currently controlled by Russian forces,” Vereshchuk said in a statement. Video posted on Telegram. “We will take 45 buses to the humanitarian corridor in Mariupol.”
17 buses have departed for Mariupol from Zaporizhzhia, while 28 are waiting for permission to pass through the Russian checkpoint in Vasylivka, near Zaporizhzhia.