Russia, Ukraine Fail To Make Progress In Turkey Meet Over Ceasefire & Humanitarian Issues

Turkey is a traditional ally of Ukraine & provided the country with Bayraktar drones which Kyiv has deployed in the conflict, however, it heavily depends on Russia for gas imports & tourism revenues. 

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu (C), Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov (L) and Ukraine's Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba (R) attending Russia-Turkey-Ukraine tripartite Foreign Ministers meeting in Antalya. (Photo: AFP)

New Delhi: During the high-level meeting, the first since the conflict began, between Russia and Ukraine's foreign ministers' talk could not progress over the ceasefire and other humanitarian issues.

Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and Ukrainian counterpart Dmytro Kuleba met for a diplomacy forum in the Turkish resort city of Antalya for three-way talks joined by Turkey's Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu, according to an AFP report. 

Kuleba expressed his frustration as he said, "it seems that there are other decision-makers for this matter in Russia", much of the discussion was for a 24-hour ceasefire but progress had been achieved. 

"I want to repeat that Ukraine has not surrendered, does not surrender, and will not surrender", Kuleba vowed that the country will not give in.

He described the meeting as "difficult", accusing his Russian counterpart of bringing "traditional narratives" about Ukraine to the table. He said that he would be ready to meet with Lavrov "again in this format if there are prospects or a substantial discussion and for seeking solutions".

Lavrov appeared to put a greater emphasis on those talks saying, "Today's meeting has confirmed that the Russian-Ukrainian format in Belarus has no alternative".

"We are in favour of any contacts... to solve the Ukrainian crisis... but the thing we realised is they must have added value and must not undermine the main track in Belarus." He said that the main topic of the talks in Antalya were humanitarian issues put forward by the Turkish hosts.

While Turkey is a traditional ally of Ukraine and provided the country with Bayraktar drones which Kyiv has deployed in the conflict though it heavily depends on Russia for gas imports & tourism revenues. 

"We are working to stop this crisis transforming into a tragedy," President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Wednesday, adding he hoped for a permanent ceasefire, according to AFP.

The Turkey talks are one of a number of diplomatic initiatives underway. Erdogan is scheduled to talk on the phone with US President Joe Biden Thursday at 1530 GMT, according to the Turkish presidency.

Ukraine's talks come after the airstrike on the children's hospital at Mariupol which, according to Kyiv, killed at least three people, including a young girl. Meanwhile, Lavrov claimed the hospital was serving "as a military base for nationalists" from the radical Azov Battalion.

Kuleba said Lavrov "will correspond with respective authorities on this issue" as he was not in the position to commit to and before speaking to its respective authorities.