ISTANBUL, November 20. /TASS/. Turkey is again ready to host talks on settling the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said on Monday.

Istanbul hosted talks between Russia and Ukraine in March 2022 but Kiev refused to implement the agreements reached as a result of them.

"Our country, which hosted talks between the parties [to the conflict], which yielded the most significant progress since the beginning of the war, is ready to organize another such meeting and be its moderator when the situation is ripe for it," he said, adding that Ankara is maintaining direct communication with Moscow to achieve a fair peaceful settlement of the conflict in Ukraine.

According to Fidan, his country is guided by its national interests and international commitments in its relations with both Russia and Ukraine. "In this context, we have reached progress in economic cooperation with the two countries," he noted.

He recalled that around 33 million tons of agricultural products had reached global markets under the Black Sea Grain Initiative. "After the termination of the initiative, we focused our efforts on its revival to prevent instability on food markets and not to let the war spread in the Black Sea waters," the top Turkish diplomat said.