Russia-Ukraine crisis: ‘No progress’ on ceasefire at Turkey talks, says Ukrainian FM

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said no progress was made on achieving a ceasefire in Ukraine in talks with his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov on Thursday, the first high-level talks between them since Moscow invaded its neighbour.

Kuleba told reporters after their meeting in Turkey the most critical situation was in the southern port of Mariupol but that Lavrov did not commit to a humanitarian corridor there and there was no progress on agreeing a wider ceasefire.

“I made a simple proposal to Minister Lavrov: I can call my Ukrainian ministers, authorities, president now and give you 100 per cent assurances on security guarantees for humanitarian corridors,” he said.

“I asked him ‘can you do the same?’ and he did not respond.”

At a separate news conference, Lavrov said President Vladimir Putin would not refuse a meeting with his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky to discuss “specific” issues.

Russia never wants to depend on Western states or companies again, Lavrov said, adding that the West was using Ukraine to undermine Russia and was creating a dangerous situation in the region that would persist for many years.

Responding to Kyiv’s condemnation of Wednesday’s bombing of a maternity hospital in Mariupol, Lavrov said the building was no longer used as a hospital and had been occupied by Ukrainian forces, though the Kremlin separately said the incident was being investigated.

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While forging close ties with Russia on energy, defence, and trade, and relying heavily on Russian tourists, Turkey has also sold drones to Ukraine, angering Moscow.