Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu has said Ukraine and Russia are nearing agreement on “critical” issues and that Ankara believes a ceasefire is possible provided neither side decides to backtrack.
In an interview with Istanbul daily Hurriyet, on Sunday, Cavusoglu – who traveled to Moscow and Kiev for meetings last week – indicated that there had been “rapprochement in the positions of both sides on important subjects, critical subjects.”
“We can say we are hopeful for a ceasefire if the sides do not take a step back from the current positions,” he added, without offering further details.
Turkish presidential spokesman Ibrahim Kalin told Al Jazeera, however, that Moscow and Kiev were close on four main issues, citing Russia’s red line of Ukraine vowing not to join NATO, demilitarization and “denazification” of the country, and the protection of the Russian language.