At the same time, the representatives from the two countries should have avoided issues of a more difficult nature, according to Turkish sources.

- It seems that they have not approached the key issues that they know they are very far apart in, at the moment, and that they have tried more to find common issues that they have been able to agree on today, says SVT's Turkey correspondent Tomas Thorén.

For this reason, new negotiations are planned with, among others, the countries' foreign ministers, Dmytro Kuleba and Sergei Lavrov.

"Want to see more concessions"

In order to achieve lasting peace, however, the countries' presidents, Vladimir Putin and Volodymyr Zelenskyj, also need to meet face to face, according to the Turkish president, who has emerged as the main mediator in the conflict.

Ukraine considers that sufficient progress has been made in the talks for such a meeting to take place.

But Russia does not agree, and after today's meeting there are no such plans.

- It should be because Putin does not think that what Zelensky has to bring to the negotiating table is generous enough against what Russia demands.

They want to see more concessions from the Ukrainian side, quite simply, before Putin can agree to a meeting, Thorén says.

Russian Presidential Adviser Vladimir Medinsky, who heads Russia's delegation, has also stressed that both countries' foreign ministers need to approve a peace agreement before a presidential meeting is held.

Initiatives from two sides

On Tuesday, Ukraine's delegation proposed, among other things, that Ukraine can remain militarily non-aligned in exchange for security guarantees and offered a 15-year consultation period on the status of annexed Crimea.

Russia's deputy defense minister, on the other hand, promises that Russia will drastically reduce its military presence in Kyiv and Chernihiv, according to several news agencies.

According to the Kremlin, this will be done to increase confidence and improve the conditions in the ongoing talks with Ukraine.

More details about the decision are expected to be presented when the Russian negotiating delegation returns to Moscow from Istanbul.

- It is a clear signal that both sides want to find a common ground to stand on.

This is a fragile first step, but we have seen in other negotiations and armed conflicts that there may be setbacks, says Thorén.

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Hear SVT's correspondent Tomas Thorén on three contentious issues at the negotiating table.

Photo: AFP Photo, ukrainian presidential press service, SVT