Ukraine and Russia will continue to hold peace talks on April 1, Ukrainian negotiator David Arakhamia said Wednesday, noting that they would take place in an online format after the latest round in Turkey
During the recent talks in Turkey, the Ukrainian side again proposed a meeting between the two presidents, Arakhamia added.
The Russian delegation replied that a coordinated draft agreement was a prerequisite to any meeting between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Ukraine insists that such a meeting cannot take place in Russia or Belarus.
Arakhamia praised the presence of Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich at the last round of peace talks in Istanbul on Tuesday.
Abramovich played a positive role, Arakhamia said according to Ukrainian media reports, offering an "unofficial communication channel" that allowed for some discussion on an informal level.
The oligarch strives for neutrality, Arakhamia explained. "Although we don't see him as a neutral party. But we can say that he is certainly more neutral than the official side of the negotiations."
On Wednesday, Arakhamia said his delegation was staying in Turkey to hold military-technical discussions with Turkish officials.
The talks on Tuesday hosted by Turkey sketched out what could end up being a framework for ending the war. The talks had been expected to resume on Wednesday, but Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu said the two sides were bringing the proposals back to their capitals.
At the conference in Istanbul, Ukraine’s delegation laid a framework under which the country would declare itself neutral and its security would be guaranteed by an array of other nations.
Russian Deputy Defense Minister Alexander Fomin said Moscow would in the meantime cut back military activity in the direction of Kyiv and Chernihiv to "increase mutual trust and create conditions for further negotiations."
Russian delegation head Vladimir Medinsky said negotiators would take Ukraine’s proposals to Russian President Vladimir Putin and then Moscow would provide a response, but he did not say when.
Çavuşoğlu said he expected a meeting between the Russian and Ukrainian foreign ministers at an unspecified time. He said another meeting between the presidents of the two countries is also on the agenda.
Russian state news agency Tass reported that Moscow’s delegates arrived back in Russia late Tuesday.
Ankara hosted the foreign ministers of Russia and Ukraine in Antalya earlier this month. Foreign Ministers Sergey Lavrov of Russia and Dmytro Kuleba of Ukraine met for talks in the Turkish resort town of Antalya, which Çavuşoğlu also attended. The talks were largely inconclusive, but Ankara considers the fact that they took place at all a success.
Maintaining its neutral and balanced stance, Turkey continues its diplomatic efforts to de-escalate the Ukraine conflict, urging all sides to exercise restraint. While Ankara has opposed international sanctions designed to isolate Moscow, it also closed its straits to prevent some Russian vessels from crossing through them.
NATO ally Turkey borders Ukraine and Russia in the Black Sea and has good ties with both. Since the beginning of the conflict, Ankara has offered to mediate between the two sides and host peace talks, underlining its support for Ukraine’s territorial integrity and sovereignty. Having recently called Russia’s invasion an unacceptable violation of international law, Turkey has carefully formulated its rhetoric not to offend Moscow, with which it has close energy, defense and tourism ties.