03/28/2022 22:02 (act 03/28/2022 22:10)
The destruction in Ukraine is now enormous. ©APA/AFP
About four and a half weeks after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Moscow and Kiev will begin a new round of talks on Tuesday in Istanbul. The Russian and Ukrainian delegations will meet at around 9:30 am CEST on Tuesday morning at the president’s office in Istanbul’s Dolmabahce, the Turkish presidential office announced late on Monday. Meanwhile, Ukraine has drawn bright red lines. At least humanitarian issues must be clarified, the ultimate objective is a ceasefire.
These lines were laid down by President Volodymyr Zelenskyj, said Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba. Before negotiations begin, the Turkish side wants to meet with the delegations, said Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. After a cabinet meeting in Ankara, he again stressed that he expected a quick ceasefire. Erdogan explained that he was in phone contact with Zelenskyy and Kremlin chief Vladimir Putin and that things were going in a “positive direction”.
Negotiators from Ukraine and Russia have already met three times in the Belarusian border area. After that, the lectures were held on video circuits.
More than four weeks after the start of the Russian war of aggression, negotiations between the Ukrainian and Russian delegations are proving extremely difficult. For example, Kiev wants the withdrawal of Russian troops and security guarantees. Moscow is demanding that Ukraine renounce NATO and recognize the breakaway areas of eastern Ukraine as separate states and the Crimean peninsula on the Black Sea, annexed in 2014, as part of Russia.
Ankara maintains good relations with Moscow and Kiev and sees itself as a mediator. Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba and his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov met in Turkey on March 10. However, the talks in Antalya at the time did not bring any significant progress.