ANKARA, April 1. /TASS/. The meeting of the leaders of Russia and Ukraine, Vladimir Putin and Vladimir Zelensky, may take place in Istanbul, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Friday.
"Yesterday I had a conversation with Mr. Zelensky, today at about 16:00 we will have talks with Mr. Putin. <...> As a result of preliminary consultations, we can now meet with leaders at the highest level, to take steps at the level of leaders, especially with regard to Crimea and Donbass. Mr. Zelensky has a positive opinion, and I hope Mr. Putin will have a positive one too. If we can hold a summit in Istanbul so that they decide to turn a negative trend into a positive one, we will be very happy," the Turkish president noted.
Earlier, Head of the Russian delegation, Presidential Aide Vladimir Medinsky said that Russia and Ukraine continue negotiations via video link, Moscow’s principled position regarding Crimea and Donbass remains unchanged. Prior to that, on March 29, the first face-to-face round of negotiations between the Russian and Ukrainian delegations was held in Istanbul in more than three weeks. The Russian side assessed the results of this round as "a positive way forward." As Medinsky noted, Ukraine’s written proposals, handed to Russia at a meeting in Istanbul, contain Kiev’s commitments not to become a NATO member or to possess nuclear weapons securing Ukraine’s non-aligned status.
Earlier, Presidential Spokesman Dmitry Peskov didn’t rule out a possible meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Ukrainian counterpart Vladimir Zelensky, but it should be thoroughly prepared to produce results. Russian President Vladimir Putin on February 24 launched a special operation in Ukraine in response to a request for help from the leaders of the Donbass republics. He stressed that Moscow had no plans to occupy Ukrainian territories. Its sole aim, Putin emphasized, is to demilitarize and denazify Ukraine.