MOSCOW, March 9. /TASS/. The forthcoming meeting between Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and his Ukrainian counterpart Dmitry Kuleba is more likely to become the beginning of fundamental Moscow-Kiev talks than their ending, the general director of the Russian International Affairs Council, Andrey Kortunov, told TASS.

"It will be rather the beginning of the negotiating process [between Moscow and Kiev] than its ending. How this process will proceed will depend on many factors that are extremely hard to foresee at the moment," he said.

Kortunov remarked that the ministerial meeting in Antalya would make it possible to hold a serious discussion of the participating parties’ main demands - in contrast to the talks in Belarus, which, Kortunov says, are focused on the coordination of current, day-to-day issues.

"The negotiations that are underway in Belarus apparently address individual situations and current issues. The foreign ministers will be able to touch upon more fundamental questions concerning the outlook for a settlement of the conflict. This should be welcomed," he said.

Narrowing differences

Kortunov believes that at the moment it is very hard to say if the Lavrov-Kuleba meeting will be a preparatory one in the light of the speculations about the possibility of direct talks between the leaders of Russia and Ukraine. However, both sides have made some hints their demands might be eased somewhat, he observed.

"To what extent the Lavrov-Kuleba talks might promote a summit level meeting is hard to tell, of course. This will largely depend on progress in the special operation and the positions taken by the two sides. Currently we can see some sort of a rapprochement, although with great reservations. President Zelensky says that Ukraine might give up the idea of joining NATO and seek a neutral status. On the other hand, if we take what we have heard from [Dmitry] Peskov and his latest explanations of Russia’s stance - no mention was made of the demand for denazification. Before, it was synonymous to the replacement of the political regime in Kiev," Kortunov said.

He remarked that if at the forthcoming meeting in Antalya the two sides manage to confirm the flexibility of their positions, these and follow-up talks will have a concrete meaning. At worst, the meeting will be exclusively a protocol one. Kortunov is skeptical the foreign ministers’ meeting might produce an armistice.

"Concrete agreements imply a great amount of preparatory work. It will be rather hard to expect that a single meeting between foreign ministers might be enough to achieve ceasefire, an end to hostilities or some fundamental arrangements. If no shifts occur, then these meetings will be just protocol ones. The two sides will just reiterate their original stance and bow out," Kortunov said.

Turkey’s role

As far as the presence of Turkey’s Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu at the Lavrov-Kuleba meeting is concerned, Kortunov said he had big doubts about Ankara’s ability to influence the talks to any significant extent.

"I have a very vague idea of what role the Turkish side might play. Turkey’s stance is very well known to us. Given its viewpoint, it can hardly hope to play the role of a broker. The Turkish foreign minister’s presence at the negotiating table will be equivalent to Kuleba’s identical twin seated in front of Lavrov," Kortunov said.

Lavrov and Kuleba are scheduled to meet on the sidelines of the diplomatic forum in Antalya on March 10. Turkey’s Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu will take part. Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov has said the forthcoming meeting will be very important to the process of negotiations between Moscow and Kiev.