Ukraine, Russia make no progress in cease-fire talks in Turkey
The discussions fail to achieve a cease-fire or a humanitarian corridor for the port city of Mariupol, but Cavusoglu says Turkey’s diplomatic efforts would continue as Erdogan braces for top level meetings with Azerbaijan, Greece and Germany.
The first meeting between the top diplomats of Russia and Ukraine since Moscow invaded neighboring Ukraine on Feb. 24 dashed hopes of easing the humanitarian situation on the ground.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov attended a meeting hosted by Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu in the southern town of Antalya. Cavusoglu met with the two separately before the tripartite meeting on the sidelines of the Antalya Diplomacy Forum, a three-day foreign policy marathon organized by Ankara.
After talks that lasted slightly over an hour, the foreign ministers of Ukraine and Russia held dueling press conferences in which both thanked Turkey’s efforts but agreed on little else.
“I came to this meeting with the hope of walking off with [accords] on two key issues, organizing a humanitarian corridor from Mariupol and reaching a 24-hour cease-fire,” Kuleba said. “But clearly, Lavrov came here to talk, not to decide.”
