Ukraine’s delegation stays in Turkey for ‘military-technical’ talks

Ukrainian negotiator Davyd Arakhamia said his delegation is staying in Istanbul to hold talks on “military-technical” cooperation with the Turkish government on Wednesday.

Arakhamia spoke a day after delegations from both sides met in Turkey’s largest city to hold peace talks, hailed by both sides as a positive step.

Meanwhile, top Russian negotiator Vladimir Medinsky said talks with Ukraine continue, noting that Ukraine has expressed willingness to meet Moscow’s core demands.

“If Ukraine sticks to its promises, threat of emergence of NATO stronghold in Ukraine is removed,” Medinsky said.

He also noted that Russia’s position on Crimea and Donbas has not changed.

The talks on Tuesday hosted by Turkey sketched out what could end up being a framework for ending the war. The talks had been expected to resume on Wednesday, but Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu said the two sides were bringing the proposals back to their capitals.

At the conference in Istanbul, Ukraine’s delegation laid a framework under which the country would declare itself neutral and its security would be guaranteed by an array of other nations.

Russian Deputy Defense Minister Alexander Fomin said Moscow would in the meantime cut back military activity in the direction of Kyiv and Chernihiv to “increase mutual trust and create conditions for further negotiations.”

Russian delegation head Vladimir Medinsky said negotiators would take Ukraine’s proposals to Russian President Vladimir Putin and then Moscow would provide a response, but he did not say when.

Çavuşoğlu said he expected a meeting between the Russian and Ukrainian foreign ministers at an unspecified time. He said another meeting between the presidents of the two countries is also on the agenda.

Russian state news agency Tass reported that Moscow’s delegates arrived back in Russia late Tuesday.

Ankara hosted the foreign ministers of Russia and Ukraine in Antalya earlier this month. Foreign Ministers Sergey Lavrov of Russia and Dmytro Kuleba of Ukraine met for talks in the Turkish resort town of Antalya, which Çavuşoğlu also attended. The talks were largely inconclusive, but Ankara considers the fact that they took place at all a success.

Maintaining its neutral and balanced stance, Turkey continues its diplomatic efforts to de-escalate the Ukraine conflict, urging all sides to exercise restraint. While Ankara has opposed international sanctions designed to isolate Moscow, it also closed its straits to prevent some Russian vessels from crossing through them.

NATO ally Turkey borders Ukraine and Russia in the Black Sea and has good ties with both. Since the beginning of the conflict, Ankara has offered to mediate between the two sides and host peace talks, underlining its support for Ukraine’s territorial integrity and sovereignty. Having recently called Russia’s invasion an unacceptable violation of international law, Turkey has carefully formulated its rhetoric not to offend Moscow, with which it has close energy, defense and tourism ties.

While forging close ties with Russia in a number of areas and relying heavily on Russian tourists, Turkey has sold drones to Ukraine, which angered Moscow. Turkey also opposes Russian policies in Syria and Libya, as well as Moscow’s annexation of Crimea. President Erdoğan has repeatedly said Turkey will not abandon its relations with Russia or Ukraine, underlining that Ankara’s ability to speak to both sides is an asset.

The Russia-Ukraine war, which started on Feb. 24, has sparked international outrage with the European Union, United States and the United Kingdom, among others, imposing tough financial sanctions on Moscow.