ISTANBUL (Reuters) -Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and Ukrainian counterpart Dmytro Kuleba have agreed to meet at a forum in southern Turkey on Thursday, the first potential talks between the top diplomats since Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine.
Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu made the announcement in brief remarks to media on Monday, adding he would attend the meeting in the resort city of Antalya. Russian news agencies confirmed the plan.
NATO member Turkey, which shares a maritime border with Russia and Ukraine in the Black Sea, has been offering to host talks. Ankara has good relations with both Moscow and Kyiv, and has called Russia’s invasion unacceptable even as it opposes sanctions against Moscow.
Kuleba said on Saturday he was open to talks with Lavrov but only if they were “meaningful”.
Russia announced new “humanitarian corridors” on Monday to transport Ukrainians trapped under its bombardment – to Russia itself and its ally Belarus, a move immediately denounced by Kyiv as an immoral stunt.
The announcement came after two days of failed ceasefires to let civilians flee the besieged city of Mariupol, where hundreds of thousands of people are trapped without food and water, under relentless bombardment and unable to evacuate their wounded.
(Reporting by Ali Kucukgocmen and Ece Toksabay; Editing by Jonathan Spicer/Mark Heinrich)
