Kyiv/MOSKAU (dpa-AFX) – After around two weeks of peace negotiations in online format, the delegations from Ukraine and Russia now want to meet again in person. The next meeting will take place in Istanbul, the Turkish presidential office announced on Sunday evening after a phone call between Kremlin chief Vladimir Putin and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. A time was not mentioned. The head of the Russian delegation, Vladimir Medinsky, had previously announced on Telegram that a meeting was planned for Tuesday and Wednesday. The Ukrainian negotiator David Arachamija also confirmed a planned personal meeting on Facebook – but spoke of the start on Monday.
Putin and Erdogan exchanged views on the phone, among other things, about the status of the negotiations, the President’s Office in Ankara explained. Erdogan has again stressed that an immediate ceasefire must be reached.
Shortly after the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine began on February 24, delegations from both countries began negotiations. After three face-to-face meetings in the border area of Belarus, the talks were held in video conferences. Ukraine is demanding an end to the fighting and a withdrawal of Russian troops. Moscow is demanding that Kyiv renounce joining NATO, which recognizes the separatist areas in the east of the country as independent states and Russian rule over the annexed Crimean Peninsula.
Ankara maintains good relations with Moscow and Kyiv. Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba and his Russian colleague Sergei Lavrov met in Turkey on March 10. However, the talks in Antalya did not bring any significant progress at the time./haw/DP/he