Antalya At the first high-level meeting between Ukraine and Russia since the outbreak of war in Antalya, southern Turkey, both sides were unable to agree on a ceasefire. “We have made no progress on this issue,” said Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmitro Kuleba on Thursday after his trilateral meeting with his Russian and Turkish counterparts, Sergey Lavrov and Mevlut Cavusoglu.
Turkey had offered to host the meeting. It had already become apparent in advance that the talks would be difficult. Both Kyiv and Moscow stuck to their demands during the meeting. There was neither an agreement on a ceasefire nor a solution for improving the humanitarian situation in the war zones.
Kuleba announced to the journalists that he would continue to work to find a solution to end the humanitarian suffering in his country. “I am willing to meet again for this in this format.”
Kuleba had repeatedly addressed Lavrov about the humanitarian suffering in Ukraine. “It seems that Russia is not currently interested in a ceasefire, but in a surrender by Ukraine.”
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There was no open exchange of blows – both sides had decided in advance to hold separate press conferences after the meeting. So it was clear from the start that there would probably be no breakthrough in the Ukraine war.
In his speech to the press, Lavrov emphasized that Russia supports any attempt to solve the problems underlying the current crisis in Ukraine. He referred to the proposals his country had already submitted. They wanted an answer to that, said Lavrov. At the same time, the country is apparently playing for time. “There is nothing that can replace negotiations,” Lavrov told journalists.
At Turkey’s initiative, both countries discussed humanitarian issues. “Civilians are being used as shields.” Lavrov stressed that Russia was making offers for humanitarian corridors on a daily basis. However, these lead either to Russia or Belarus. “We choose the safest routes,” Lavrov said. When asked about the bombing of a hospital, Lavrov said: “The hospital in Mariupol was already under the control of Ukrainian radicals and there were no patients there.” However, pictures taken by independent agency photographers show injured, heavily pregnant women who are apparently being taken out of the hospital under fire . Lavrov said he wanted the Ukraine crisis to be resolved “taking into account the views of all parties and the EU.”
First high level meeting
It has been almost seven years since the heads of government of the G20 countries met in Antalya in southern Turkey. At the time, the Russian military had just begun bombing Syrian cities, winning the war in the country. That was in 2015.
This was the first high-level meeting between Ukraine and Russia since war broke out two weeks ago. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said he hoped the talks would open the door to a permanent ceasefire.
In this photo provided by Turkey’s Foreign Ministry via AP, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu (center) chairs a three-way talk with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov (left) and Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba.
(Photo: dpa)
Both sides had previously reiterated their calls for the fighting to stop. Moscow had declared that it wanted to demilitarize Ukraine and recognize separatist areas as independent. The Kremlin also called for regime change in Kyiv.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky earlier said he was ready to consider some compromises. However, he ruled out the cession of Crimea and the provinces of Donetsk and Donbass and pushed for security guarantees from the United States and Germany and for membership of the European Union.
Little hope of a breakthrough
Zelensky also said there was no direct contact with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Only after direct talks between the two presidents can the war be ended. Before the tripartite summit, Cavusoglu had met bilaterally with his counterparts from Russia and Ukraine.
According to experts, the prospects for a ceasefire were already slim before the meeting. Christoph Heusgen, head of the Munich Security Conference, told the Handelsblatt: “Putin’s and Ukraine’s starting positions are currently far apart.” Reiner Schwalb, former Brigadier General, also believes that the conflict can be resolved quickly. D, unlikely. He does not expect that Russia will withdraw its troops. From Schwalb’s point of view, two options remain: “A ceasefire to negotiate a peace treaty – or Ukraine will continue the war in the hope that the political situation will change at some point.”
Turkey’s diplomatic success
Turkey sees the fact that the Ukrainian and Russian foreign ministers met at all as a diplomatic success. As a NATO member, it has close ties with Moscow and Kyiv, sources wheat and other food from both countries, and welcomed 4.5 million Russian and 2.1 million Ukrainian holidaymakers to the Turkish Riviera last year.
Russian and Turkish military are patrolling northern Syria. Even after Turkey shot down a Russian fighter jet on the Syrian border in November 2015, the two heads of state met again in Moscow almost a year later. Putin and Erdogan have often referred to each other as friends.
At the same time, however, Turkey also maintains good relations with Ukraine. Last year it supplied combat drones to the country, which used them against Russian-backed forces in occupied Donetsk province in October.
After the outbreak of the Ukraine war, head of state Erdogan immediately called for a ceasefire and described the fighting as unjust and illegal, but refrained from sanctions against Russia and thus kept a channel of communication open to Moscow. “If everyone shuts themselves off from Russia, who can talk to them anymore,” Erdogan’s chief adviser Ibrahim Kalin recently explained.
More: Read all news about the Ukraine war in the live blog