ISTANBUL, Turkey — Turkey on Sunday said
Russia and
Ukraine made progress on their negotiations to halt the invasion and the two
warring sides were close to an agreement.
اضافة اعلان
"Of course, it is not an easy thing to come to terms
with while the war is going on, while civilians are killed, but we would like
to say that momentum is still gained," Foreign Minister
Mevlut Cavusoglu said in live comments from the southern Turkish province of Antalya.
"We see that the parties are close to an
agreement."
Cavusoglu this week visited Russia and Ukraine as Turkey,
which has strong bonds with the two sides, has tried to position itself as a
mediator.
Ankara hosted the foreign ministers of Russia and
Ukraine in
Antalya last week.
Cavusoglu said Turkey was in contact with the negotiating
teams from the two countries but he refused to divulge the details of the talks
as "we play an honest mediator and facilitator role."
In an interview with daily Hurriyet, presidential spokesman
Ibrahim Kalin said the sides were negotiating six points: Ukraine's neutrality,
disarmament and security guarantees, the so-called "de-Nazification",
removal of obstacles on the use of the Russian language in Ukraine, the status
of the breakaway Donbass region and the status of Crimea annexed by Russia in
2014.
Ukrainian President
Volodymyr Zelensky has repeatedly
appealed for peace, urging Russia to accept "meaningful" talks for an
end to the invasion.
"This is the time to meet, to talk, time for renewing
territorial integrity and fairness for Ukraine," he said, in his latest
video posted on social media on Saturday.
Turkey said it was ready to host a meeting between Zelensky
and Russian President
Vladimir Putin.
"We are working day and night for peace,"
Cavusoglu said on Sunday.
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