Turkey Said Ceasefire Agreement Between Russia & Ukraine Might be Possible Soon If Both Sides Didn’t Backtrack

Last week, Turkey’s foreign minister Mevlut Cavusoglu met with Russia and Ukraine’s foreign ministers Sergei Lavrov and Dmytro Kuleba to discuss the ongoing Russo-Ukrainian conflict.

To know more about the peace talks that Russia and Ukraine have been having, watch this video to the end:

And now, according to Turkish daily newspaper Hurriyet, Cavusoglu has said that there has been much progress in diplomatic relations and that there has been “rapprochement in the positions of both sides on important subjects, critical subjects”.

This is in contrast to the talks from earlier this month, when no concrete outcomes of discussions could be reported at all from the talks between the three foreign ministers.

At long last, Cavusoglu also said that we can be “hopeful for a ceasefire if the sides do not take a step back from the current positions”.

Ukraine and Russia’s stances

Both Ukraine and Russia have also affirmed Turkey’s claims that they are moving towards a solution that will ensure peace and security without any interference from NATO.

Despite this, all final diplomatic talks to seal the deal will have to be between the presidents of the two countries, Russia’s Vladmir Putin and Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelensky.

However, Turkish spokesman Ibrahim Kalin has conveyed to Al Jazeera television that President Putin feels like they have not reached a negotiable point in diplomacy yet for him to join in talks.

This is especially with regards to sensitive “strategic issues” of Crimea, which was invaded and annexed by Russia in 2014, and the ongoing war of Donbass that started in the same year.

Additionally, Kalin highlighted that Russia and Ukraine are mainly concerned with these four key issues:

  1. Ukraine denouncing its plans to join NATO
  2. Demilitarisation
  3. “Denazification”*
  4. The protection of the Russian language in Ukraine

*Both the West and Ukraine have classified Russia’s claims of “Neo-Nazism” as Russian propaganda, while Putin remains firm in this justification of the invasion.

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Turkey’s Role

As a NATO member with good ties with Russia, Turkey holds the unique position of facilitating diplomacy, acting as a bridge between Russia and not only Ukraine, but the rest of the world.

Though Turkey condemns Russia’s invasion, it also opposes sanctions on Russia. Turkey President Erdogan has referred to Putin as a “friend”, and affirmed that Turkey will not pick a side in the conflict, retaining its role as a mediator between the two countries.

In the meantime, the war rages on, with over 900 civilians dead and 1459 wounded in Ukraine as of midnight of 19 March.

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Featured Image: Alexandros Michailidis / Shutterstock.com