Top Russian and Ukrainian diplomats meet for the first time since the invasion

ANTALYA, Turkey (Reuters) – The foreign ministers of Russia and Ukraine met in Turkey on Thursday in the first high-level talks between the two countries since Moscow’s invasion of its neighbor, which Ankara hopes will be a turning point in the conflict.

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba has tempered expectations about a ceasefire agreement or other results from the meeting with his Russian counterpart, Sergei Lavrov.

Television footage showed the Russian and Ukrainian delegations sitting at tables facing each other, on either side of the delegation headed by Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu.

The Russian invasion has displaced more than two million people in what the United Nations describes as the fastest humanitarian crisis in Europe since World War Two. Read more

Prior to the talks, Kuleba urged Lavrov to approach her “in good faith, not from a propaganda perspective.” Read more

“I will say frankly that my expectations from the talks are low,” Kuleba said in a video statement on Wednesday. “We are interested in a ceasefire and the liberation of our lands, and the third point is the resolution of all humanitarian issues.”

Moscow has said that all of its demands – including that Kyiv take a neutral stance and give up aspirations to join NATO – must be met to end its offensive.

Delegations from the two countries held three rounds of talks in the past, two in Belarus and one in Ukraine. Despite some positive indications about the humanitarian arrangements, those negotiations had little effect.

Moscow describes its incursion as a “special military operation” to disarm Ukraine and expel leaders it calls “neo-Nazis”. Kyiv and its Western allies dismiss this as an unfounded excuse to wage an unprovoked war against a democracy of 44 million people.

Turkey Balance

Thursday’s meeting was held on the sidelines of a diplomatic forum in the southern Turkish province of Antalya.

This is a “step forward” and could lead to an escalation of diplomacy at higher levels in Moscow, said Mustafa Aydin, a professor at Istanbul’s Kadir Has University.

“Russia is not yet close to achieving peace, although it is slowly changing its position,” he said. “Its initially uncompromising stance is slowly giving way to a negotiating position, albeit not yet sufficient to achieve a tangible outcome.”

Turkey, which shares maritime borders with Russia and Ukraine in the Black Sea and has good relations with both sides, called the Russian invasion unacceptable and called for an urgent ceasefire but opposed sanctions against Moscow.

While establishing close ties with Russia in the areas of energy, defense and trade, and relying heavily on Russian tourists, Turkey also sold drones to Ukraine, which angered Moscow.

Cavusoglu said Lavrov and Kuleba had requested to attend the talks on Thursday, adding that he hoped the meeting would be a “turning point”.

Additional reporting by Jay Faulconbridge in London and Caesar, Pearson Altayle and Darren Butler in Istanbul. Editing by Jonathan Spicer, Cynthia Osterman and Dominic Evans

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