Ukraine and Russia are now negotiating in Turkey: Insiders declare hope - Kuleba taunts Lavrov

Created: 03/10/2022, 10:20 am

By: Cindy Boden

Sergey Lavrov (left), Foreign Minister of Russia, and Dmytro Kuleba, Foreign Minister of Ukraine (archive images, montage) © Pool EPA/AP/Pool Reuters/AP/Pool EPA/AP/dpa

Negotiations at ministerial level in the Ukraine war with Russia will take place on Thursday.

A quick end to the violence is not yet in sight.

News ticker.

• Ukraine conflict *: For the first time since the beginning of the war two weeks ago, Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and his Ukrainian colleague Dmytro Kuleba met for negotiations.

• The expectations of the peace talks are still subdued.

• This

  news ticker on the negotiations and diplomatic attempts related to the Ukraine war

  is continuously updated.

  More on the background of the Ukraine crisis* here.

Antalya - The sometimes extremely bloody fighting in Ukraine continues.

But now the governments are talking to each other again.

For the first time since the beginning of the Russian invasion, the foreign ministers of Ukraine and Russia - Dmytro Kuleba and Sergey Lavrov - will meet on Thursday (March 10).

Both met in Turkey for the negotiations.

Negotiations in the Ukraine war: Kuleba and Lavrov meet for the first time since the beginning of the invasion

The politicians sat opposite each other in a hall in Antalya on Thursday morning in the presence of Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Çavusoglu, according to a photo released by the Russian Foreign Ministry.

As a condition for a cessation of fighting, Russia is demanding that Ukraine* declare itself neutral in its constitution.

In addition, Kyiv must recognize the annexed Black Sea peninsula of Crimea as Russian and the separatist areas of Luhansk and Donetsk as independent states.

So far, however, Ukraine has largely rejected this.

Nevertheless: Kuleba had landed in Antalya for talks "about the cessation of Russian hostilities and the end of the war against Ukraine," a spokesman for the Foreign Ministry in Kyiv wrote on Twitter on Wednesday evening.

Ukraine-Russia negotiations in Turkey: observers do not expect a breakthrough

The Russian government recently spoke of "progress" in negotiations with the Ukrainian side and, unlike before, assured that it would not seek to overthrow the government in Kyiv.

For his part, the Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyj* made his willingness to compromise clear* and moved away from the call for his country to join NATO.

However, observers do not expect a breakthrough and a quick end to the violence in Ukraine.

The fact that Russia is now ready for talks at a higher level is interpreted by experts as meaning that the Kremlin's war plan does not seem to be working.

Reports of exhausted fighters and military vehicles that are stuck are increasing.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken also doubts the success of the Russian attack in Ukraine *.

Other voices emphasize that the talks could be part of a delaying tactic by Russia.

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The news ticker.

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Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan* had repeatedly offered to mediate in the conflict between Moscow and Kyiv.

Turkey is still able to talk "both with Ukraine and with Russia," Erdogan stressed on Wednesday.

The meeting in Antalya is about "preventing the crisis from developing into a tragedy".

Turkey, as a NATO member, supplies combat drones to Ukraine, but also has close economic ties with Russia, for example in tourism and in wheat and energy supplies.

In this photo provided by Turkey's Foreign Ministry via AP, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba (L) is greeted by his Turkish counterpart Mevlut Cavusoglu before the trio meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.

© Cem Ozdel/Turkish Foreign Ministry/AP/dpa

Ukraine war: Kuleba and Lavrov meet for negotiations - "Limited expectations"

On Wednesday, Kuleba assured in a Facebook video that he would do everything possible to make the "talks (as) effective as possible", but admitted that he had "limited expectations".

"I don't have high hopes, but we will do everything we can to get the maximum out of it," he said.

He stressed that "everything will depend on the instructions Lavrov received before these talks."

A Western official said he was "not optimistic" about the meeting.

He asked: “Why is Lavrov engaging (in these talks)?

Obviously we hope it is because they (the Russians) want what is happening to come to an end."

The Turkish President will call his US colleague Joe Biden* at 4 p.m. CET, as the White House announced on Wednesday evening.

The US government recently warned of a possible Russian use of chemical or biological weapons in Ukraine.

Negotiations in Turkey between Russia and Ukraine - including talks on the security of Ukrainian nuclear facilities

Talks on the security of the Ukrainian nuclear plants* are also to be held in Antalya.

The head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Rafael Grossi, wants to travel there himself.

After a series of incidents since the beginning of the Russian attack, Grossi had proposed negotiations on nuclear safety guarantees to avoid a serious nuclear accident.