The framework will not have really paved the way for appeasement. Until now organized in Belarus, a territory under Russian influence, the previous talks between Ukraine and Russia have only led to short ceasefires, which were not very fruitful, Kiev accusing Moscow of not respecting them and of shoot at civilians.
The relocation of the talks this Thursday to Turkey would not have made it possible to go further in the negotiations for the moment: “We have mentioned a ceasefire but no progress has been made in this direction”, has declared Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba to the press, adding however that he “hoped” to be able to continue the discussion with his counterpart.
According to Mr. Kuleba, his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov assured him that Russia “will continue (its) aggression until we accept their demand to capitulate”. And to add: “Ukraine has not surrendered, is not surrendering and will not surrender”. She will “with dedication and sacrifice, defend our lands, our people, in the face of Russian aggression” as long as “there are no diplomatic decisions”, he added.
“Today’s meeting has confirmed that the Russian-Ukrainian format in Belarus has no alternative,” said Sergei Lavrov, the Russian Minister of Foreign Affairs, dispatched in person to Turkey, a first. The head of diplomacy denounced “dangerous” arms deliveries to Ukraine, while affirming that he wanted to continue the dialogue with Kiev.
The discussions began around 9 a.m. this morning, in a large hotel near Antalya, a seaside resort on the Mediterranean coast, particularly popular with Russian tourists. This is Sergei Lavrov’s first foreign trip, targeted by Western sanctions, since Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24.
The talks were aimed at reaching a ceasefire, a Turkish diplomat told AFP before the start of the trilateral meeting. Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Cavusoglu received and spoke separately with each of the two ministers, who had arrived the evening before and stayed in different hotels. He first received Dmytro Kuleba, smiling, whom he greeted with a warm hug, then Sergei Lavrov, appeared with a closed face.
The tone seemed to change
In Turkey, a NATO member country but an important partner of Russia, the Ukrainian Foreign Minister intended to insist on “three key points” during the trilateral meeting, according to a press release: “An immediate ceasefire, a improvement of the humanitarian situation in Mariupol, Kharkiv, Sumy, Volnovakha and other Ukrainian cities, a withdrawal of Russian troops from the territory of Ukraine”. The cities cited under all come under heavy fire from Russian forces with many civilians trapped.
On Wednesday, the head of diplomacy declared that the success of the talks would depend “on the instructions and directives given to Lavrov” by the Kremlin. During previous meetings, Russia had demanded “the recognition of Russian sovereignty over Crimea, the completion of the demilitarization and denazification of the Ukrainian state and the guarantee of its neutral status”. Elements deemed unrealistic in Kiev.
In recent days, however, Russia seemed to be initiating a change of tone and itself underlined “progress” in the exchanges. Moscow’s objectives “do not include the occupation of Ukraine, nor the destruction of its state, nor the overthrow of the current government”, nuanced Maria Zakharova, the Russian representative during the previous talks. “It would be better if we achieved progress through peaceful negotiations,” she said.
However, “limited” expectations
But even before the Ukrainian and Russian statements, expectations were already “limited”: before his departure for Antalya, the head of Ukrainian diplomacy denounced the continued brutal bombing and siege of major cities. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky even denounced a “war crime”, in a video message broadcast on Wednesday, following the bombing of a pediatric hospital in the port of Mariupol, in southeastern Ukraine. The humanitarian corridors negotiated on Wednesday only allowed the evacuation of 35,000 civilians. They were able to flee the towns of Sumy, Enerhodar, areas close to the capital Kiev.
It is therefore difficult to see any appeasement in these conditions: “I do not have great hopes on them but we will try to make the most of the talks with effective preparation, declared the Ukrainian Foreign Minister, always upstream. These discussions above all illustrate the efforts of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to play a mediating role since the beginning of the crisis.
“We are working to prevent this crisis from turning into a tragedy,” Erdogan said on Wednesday. I hope that the meeting between the ministers will pave the way for a permanent ceasefire,” he insisted.
The Russian and Ukrainian ministers will be joined at the meeting by Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu, with Turkey, a NATO member, keen to maintain strong relations with both sides despite the conflict.
