Ukraine’s most ambitious goal at talks with Russia in Turkey this week is to agree to a cease-fire, its Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said on Monday.
“The minimum program will be humanitarian questions, and the maximum program is reaching an agreement on a cease-fire,” he said on national television when asked about the scope of the latest round of peace negotiations that are expected to kick off on Tuesday.
Russian President Vladimir Putin and President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan agreed in a telephone call on Sunday for Istanbul to host the talks, which Ankara hopes will lead to a cease-fire in Ukraine.
NATO-member Turkey, which has cultivated close ties with both Russia and Ukraine, is trying to balance those relations and has positioned itself as a neutral party trying to mediate.
Ankara has criticized Russia’s military actions in Ukraine as “unacceptable” but also said it would not give up on either side.
In a televised address following a Cabinet meeting Monday, Erdoğan said he would meet “briefly” with the Ukrainian and Russian delegations ahead of their talks.
The president said that separate telephone calls he has been holding with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Putin were progressing in a “positive direction.” However, he did not elaborate.
Earlier peace talks between the sides held both via video and in person failed to make progress.
Zelenskyy hinted that Ukraine is prepared to declare its neutrality and consider a compromise on contested areas in the country’s east to secure peace — but he said only a face-to-face meeting with Putin can end the war. A meeting like that hasn't happened yet.
Russian forces invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24 in what Putin calls a "special military operation" to demilitarize Ukraine. Ukraine and the West maintain Putin launched an unprovoked war of aggression.
