New Ukraine-Russia talks to start next week in Turkey

Ukraine said that a second round of conflict talks between negotiators from Kyiv and Moscow will take place in Turkey from Monday, just over one month into Russia’s military operation in Ukraine.

“Today, during another round of video negotiations, it was decided to hold the next in-person round of the two delegations in Turkey on March 28-30,” David Arakhamia, a Ukraine negotiator and politician wrote on Facebook.

Russia’s lead negotiator in the conflict, Vladimir Medinsky, confirmed the upcoming talks with Ukraine, but gave a slightly different time frame, saying they would start Tuesday and end Wednesday.

Russia and Ukraine failed to make a breakthrough in their first top-level talks, on March 10 in Antalya, since Moscow launched its military operation in Ukraine in late February.

The two sides have held regular talks via video conference but offered scant hopes for any breakthroughs with both sides describing efforts as difficult.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erodgan said this week that Russia and Ukraine appeared to have reached an understanding on four out of six negotiating points; Ukraine staying out of Nato, the use of Russian language in Ukraine, disarmament and security guarantees.

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Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said Friday however that there was “no consensus” on key points with Russia.

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