Istanbul to host next round of Ukraine-Russia talks

Reuters 

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan told Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin in a telephone call on March 27 that a ceasefire and better humanitarian conditions were needed following Moscow's invasion of Ukraine, his office said in a statement.

"Erdogan noted the importance of a ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine, the implementation of peace and the improvement of humanitarian conditions in the region," his office said in a readout of the call.

It added they agreed the next round of peace committee talks between Ukraine and Russia would be held in Istanbul.

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu, who held a call with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on March 27, said Turkey is aware of the trust and responsibility when it comes to the planned Ukraine-Russia meetings in Turkey.

"We hope that the meetings will result in a permanent ceasefire and lead to peace," Çavuşoğlu said on Twitter.

Earlier on March 27, Ukrainian negotiator David Arakhamia said the next round of face to face talks between Ukraine and Russia will take place in Turkey on March 28-30. 

"Today, at the video talks, it was decided to hold the next live round by two delegations in Turkey on March 28-30," Arakhamia wrote on Facebook.

Meanwhile, head of Russia's negotiation team Vladimir Medinsky said the face-to-face talks will take place on March 29-30.

Ukrainian and Russian delegations have held three rounds of peace talks in-person in Belarus since Feb. 28, and the fourth one started on March 14 in a format of video conference.

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