On Sunday, the Ukrainian government expected a meeting between President Volodymyr Zelensky and his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, while Moscow said that it did not share Kyiv's optimism that such a meeting would be imminent.

And a member of the Ukrainian negotiating delegation, David Arakhamia, said that the peace draft with Russia has been sufficiently expanded, to allow direct talks to take place soon between the two countries' presidents in Istanbul or Ankara.

In a statement to local media, Arakhamia talked about the progress of the negotiation process between Kyiv and Moscow.

The negotiations aim to stop the war that Russia has been waging against Ukraine since last February.

"There are hopes for a meeting between Putin and Zelensky in the near future," David Arachhamia said.

The government in Kyiv believes that the first positive signs are beginning to appear, after weeks of negotiations between the representatives of Russia and Ukraine to end the war.


peace draft

David Arachamia explained that with the exception of the problem of Crimea, which Russia annexed to it in 2014, the Russians have orally agreed to a peace draft proposed by Ukraine during negotiations hosted by the Turkish city of Istanbul in late March.

He added that the Russian side emphasized that the draft document had been sufficiently expanded to allow direct consultations between the leaders of Ukraine and Russia.

Arakhamia pointed out that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan spoke by phone to both Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

He indicated that President Erdogan assured the two presidents of Turkey's readiness to host their meeting.

Turkey, which enjoys good relations with both Russia and Ukraine, has sought to mediate this dispute.

Since Russia invaded Ukraine, Zelensky has repeatedly called for a face-to-face meeting with Putin.

On the other hand, the head of Russia's negotiating delegation said, "We do not share the Ukrainian side's optimism that a summit will be held soon between Putin and Zelensky."

At the same time, he noted that the Ukrainian side "has become more realistic in its approach to the issues of Ukraine's neutrality without a nuclear weapon.