MOSCOW, March 28. /TASS/. No progress has been made so far on arranging a meeting between Presidents Vladimir Putin of Russia and Vladimir Zelensky of Ukraine, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov told journalists on Monday.

"No, there is no progress [on this issue]," Peskov said in response to a question on such a possible meeting, and even with regards to the negotiations between both countries’ delegations scheduled for the coming days in Istanbul.

Earlier, Russian Presidential Aide Vladimir Medinsky who leads the Russian delegation said on his Telegram channel that the delegations of the two countries decided to hold the next round of face-to-face talks on March 29-30. Later, the office of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan reported that the Turkish leader and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin had agreed to hold the meeting of the delegations in Istanbul.

Russian President Vladimir Putin on February 24 said in an early morning televised address that he had launched a special military operation in Ukraine in response to a request for help from the leaders of the Donbass republics. He stressed that Moscow had no intention of occupying Ukrainian territories, the sole purpose of the operation, the leader stressed, is the demilitarization and denazification of Ukraine. The Russian Defense Ministry emphasized that its forces are targeting key military infrastructures and not cities. The civilian population is not at risk, the Defense Ministry assured.