Talks between Russian and Ukrainian foreign ministers were hosted by Turkey
Russia and Ukraine could not reach a ceasefire agreement, Ukrainian foreign minister Dmytro Kuleba told journalists after meeting his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov in Turkey on Thursday.
The Ukrainian diplomat called the round of talks difficult.
Lavrov said Kiev will be studying a Russian proposal on how the ongoing hostilities between the two countries can be resolved. Kuleba reiterated that his country does not intend to meet Russian demands.
The meeting in Turkey’s city of Antalya was separate from the Belarus-hosted peace talks, which saw three rounds without any significant progress.
Commenting on the possibility of holding negotiations at the presidential level, Lavrov said Russia’s President Vladimir Putin will not meet Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelensky just for the sake of having a meeting.
Russia launched a military attack against Ukraine in late February, after accusing it of stonewalling attempts to peacefully resolve its conflict with breakaway republics of Donetsk and Lugansk and compromising Russian national security through allowing in NATO forces. Moscow says its goals are to demilitarize Ukraine and eradicate radical nationalist elements in its government and armed forces.
Kiev and its Western backers called the attack an unprovoked act of aggression. The US and its allies imposed harsh anti-Russian sanctions meant to cripple its economy and ramped up supplies of arms to Ukraine, but refused to intervene in the conflict militarily.
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