Turkey talks about the imminent conclusion of an understanding between Russia and Ukraine

Ankara announced Sunday that Moscow and Kiev have made progress in negotiations aimed at ending the Russian invasion of Ukraine, and are close to concluding an understanding.

"Of course, this is not an easy thing to achieve while the war continues and civilians are being killed, but we want to say that the momentum is still there," Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said.

"We see that the two parties are close to (concluding) an agreement," he said in statements from Antalya province in southern Turkey.

Cavusoglu visited Russia and Ukraine this week, with Ankara, which has strong ties to the two countries, trying to play a mediating role between them.

Last week, Turkey hosted a meeting between Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and his Ukrainian counterpart Dmytro Kuleba in Antalya.

Cavusoglu indicated that Turkey is communicating with Russian and Ukrainian negotiators, refusing to reveal any details about the talks.

He stressed that Turkey plays "the role of an honest broker and facilitator."

For his part, Turkish presidential spokesman Ibrahim Kalin said in an interview with Hurriyet newspaper that Russia and Ukraine are negotiating six points: Kyiv's neutrality, disarmament and security guarantees, "de-Nazification" of Ukraine, as Russia demands, removing obstacles to the use of language. Russia’s situation in Ukraine, the situation of the two separatist “republics” in the Donbass region, and the situation in Crimea, which Russia annexed in 2014.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky urged Russia to accept "serious" talks to put an end to the invasion launched by Russian forces on February 24.

"This is the time to meet, to talk, to renew the territorial integrity and justice of Ukraine," Zelensky said in a video broadcast on Saturday.

Turkey had previously expressed its willingness to host a meeting between Zelensky and his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin.

On Sunday, Cavusoglu stressed that Ankara was working "night and day for peace."

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