TURKEY: Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and Ukrainian counterpart Dmytro Kuleba on Thursday began talks in Turkey in the first such high-level contact since Moscow invaded its neighbour, officials from both sides and their hosts said.
The ministers began talks on the sidelines of a diplomatic forum in the southern Turkish resort of Antalya, joined by Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu, a Turkish official told AFP in comments confirmed by the Russian and Ukrainian foreign ministries.
Turkey has for weeks pushed to play a mediation role in the conflict. But analysts fear there are only the lowest chances of a breakthrough at the meeting. Images of the meeting showed the Russian, Turkish and Ukrainian delegations sitting on each side of an 'n' shaped table, with each minister accompanied by just two other officials.
Kuleba said in a video on Wednesday that his expectations were "limited" for the talks and said their success would depend on "what instructions and directives Lavrov is under" from the Kremlin.
The meeting is taking place against the background of Ukrainian and international outrage after an attack on a children's hospital in the besieged Ukrainian city of Mariupol which, according to Kyiv, killed at least three people, including a young girl. The Turkey talks are one of a number of diplomatic initiatives.
Israel is seeking to broker a solution through direct talks with President Vladimir Putin and French President Emmanuel Macron is also frequently phoning the Kremlin chief.
"There is today a very slim hope and we need to seize it... without being naive," France's Europe Minister Clement Beaune told France Inter radio. "The goal is the same that the fighting stops but we need to put great pressure on Russia," he added.