Turkey may host Russian, Ukrainian FMs again

A resident walks past a damaged building in Mariupol, March 28, 2022. (Photo by Victor/Xinhua)

ANKARA, March 31 (Xinhua) -- Turkey may host Ukrainian and Russian foreign ministers for peace talks within two weeks, Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said on Thursday.

"We are working to bring the foreign ministers together," Cavusoglu told A Haber broadcaster, adding that Ankara aims to bring the leaders of Russia and Ukraine together.

The minister said he was in contact with both Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba and his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov for the meeting.

"Both sides said they wanted to come when they were ready. It is not possible to give an exact date. They said there might be a meeting in a week or two," Cavusoglu said.

Turkey hosted a face-to-face meeting of Russian and Ukrainian negotiation teams in Istanbul on Tuesday, during which Ukraine presented written proposals.

The Turkish minister reiterated that Moscow and Kiev have achieved progress on some topics of the talks.

The meeting was the first high-level talks between Moscow and Kiev since Russia launched a "special military operation" in Ukraine on Feb. 24.

Elaborating on the presence of Russian businessman Roman Abramovich at the peace talks in Istanbul, the minister praised his role as a "backchannel" figure for negotiations between Russia and Ukraine.

Abramovich was "sincerely" working to end the conflict and making "contributions" to the process, Cavusoglu said.