Russia, Ukraine to Hold Peace Talks in Turkey

As Russia’s invasion of Ukraine enters its third week, foreign ministers from the two countries have arrived in Turkey to engage in peace talks.

On Thursday, 24 February, Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered a full-scale attack on Ukraine, leading to countless deaths and the widespread displacement of Ukrainian citizens.

According to reports, the high-level, face-to-face meeting will take place in the southern Turkish city of Antalya this morning, Thursday 10 March.

Foreign minister Sergey Lavrov will represent Russia, while foreign minister Dmytro Kuleba will represent Ukraine, with the latter hoping that their negotiations will persuade Russia to cease its hostilities and end its war against their ex-Soviet neighbour.

“I am not pinning any great hopes on them, but we will try and get the most out of them,” Kuleba said in a Facebook video. “I will demand a ceasefire to liberate our territories, and of course to resolve the humanitarian issues, or rather catastrophes created by the Russian military.”

The peace talks come soon after a Russian airstrike hit a children’s hospital in Mariupol, Ukraine, an act that has been widely condemned worldwide and has been described as a “war crime”.