Turkey stated on Sunday that Russia and Ukraine had made progress in their talks to end the invasion and that the two warring parties were close to a deal.
“Of course, it is difficult to come to terms with when the war is ongoing and civilians are being killed, but we would like to stress that momentum is still being gained,” Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said in live remarks from Antalya in southern Turkey. “We can tell that the sides are on the verge of reaching an agreement.” Cavusoglu visited Russia and Ukraine this week in an attempt to present Turkey as a mediator. Turkey has close ties with both countries.
In Antalya last week, Ankara received the foreign ministers of Russia and Ukraine.
Turkey is talk with both nations
Turkey is in communication with the two countries’ negotiating teams, according to Cavusoglu, but he refuses to reveal the substance of the talks since “we play an honest mediator and facilitator role.”
In an interview with the Turkish daily Hurriyet, presidential spokesman Ibrahim Kalin said the sides were negotiating six points: Ukraine’s neutrality, disarmament, and security guarantees, so-called “de-Nazification,” the removal of barriers to the use of Russian in Ukraine, the status of the breakaway Donbas region, and the status of Crimea, which Russia annexed in 2014.
President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine has made repeated appeals for peace, pushing Russia to accept “serious” discussions to cease the invasion. “Now is the time to meet, to talk, to renew Ukraine‘s territorial integrity and fairness,” he stated in his most recent video, which he shared on social media on Saturday.
Turkey has expressed interest in hosting a meeting between Zelensky and Russian President Vladimir Putin. “We are working for peace 24 hours a day, seven days a week,” Cavusoglu said.