On Thursday, the foreign ministers of Ukraine and Russia, Dmytro Kuleba and Sergey Lavrov, failed to resolve the ongoing Ukraine war at the first high-level diplomatic talks that took place under the mediation of Turkey in Antalya.
Prior to the meeting, Ukrainian Minister of Foreign Affairs Kuleba said Kyiv’s expectations from Moscow were “limited,” adding that the two most pressing issues on his agenda were: a 24-hour nation-wide ceasefire and the establishment of a humanitarian corridor in the southern city of Mariupol, where Russian forces launched bombs at a maternity hospital earlier this week, injuring at least 17 people including patients.
During a press conference after the meeting, Kuleba said he offered the Russian side “100% assurances on security guarantees” for humanitarian corridors but said that his demands were met with silence.
In our meeting with FM Lavrov mediated by @MevlutCavusoglu I insisted on the urgent need to allow humanitarian help for Mariupol and a 24-hour ceasefire. Unfortunately, FM Lavrov seemed to have come to talk, not to decide. I hope he will convey Ukraine’s requests back in Moscow.
— Dmytro Kuleba (@DmytroKuleba) March 10, 2022
Kuleba claimed that the two leaders failed to come to an agreement on any issue since his Russian counterpart Lavrov lacked the authority to make such commitments. Additionally, he noted that Russia is reluctant to negotiate a ceasefire because it wants Ukraine to “surrender,” which Kuleba said is not an option.
On the other hand, Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov highlighted that Moscow had already presented its security proposal to Kyiv, referring to their demands requiring Ukraine to adopt a neutral status by rejecting membership to “any blocs,” recognising the independence of Donetsk and Luhansk, and accepting Crimea as Russian territory.
UKRAINE: RUSSIA CONVEYED WILL CONTINUE ATTACK UNTIL DEMANDS MET
— annmarie hordern (@annmarie) March 10, 2022
Kuleba-Lavrov netting finished. Video via @AFP pic.twitter.com/eJXw3SgoH9
Lavrov said Moscow looked for “a specific response” to the aforementioned Russian security proposal, which he described as a “draft legal document.” “No one was going to make a ceasefire agreement here,” he claimed, dismissing Kuleba’s regret over a lack of military truce.
When asked about the hospital bombing by the Russian military in Mariupol, Lavrov said the reports were fake news fabricated by the Western media, claiming that the facility was no longer operational as a hospital and instead housed members of the far-right Azov battalion.
🇷🇺🇹🇷🇺🇦 In #Antalya, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey #Lavrov holds a meeting with Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu and Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmitry #Kuleba pic.twitter.com/tlSWBBCXuQ
— MFA Russia 🇷🇺 (@mfa_russia) March 10, 2022
“We are not planning to attack other countries. In fact, we did not attack Ukraine, either,” Lavrov declared. The Russian side also clarified that it is open to a meeting between the Russian and Ukrainian Presidents, Vladimir Putin and Volodymyr Zelensky.
Separately, Turkish Minister of Foreign Affairs Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu, who mediated the almost two-hour-long meeting, affirmed that both sides conducted the talks in a civil manner despite the difficult circumstances. He also expressed his support for establishing humanitarian corridors and a ceasefire.
“We do not plan to attack other countries. We did not attack Ukraine either.”
— Bloomberg Quicktake (@Quicktake) March 10, 2022
Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov denied that Russia attacked its neighbor, in comments after meeting his Ukrainian counterpart for talks in Turkey https://t.co/No3iHGwBe2 pic.twitter.com/MkhAyauyJV
Earlier this week, the third round of diplomatic talks between Ukraine and Russia ended in the leaders agreeing to establish humanitarian corridors for civilian evacuation; however, the talks otherwise yielded no progress. Since then, Zelensky has said that he is no longer looking to join the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and that he is open to compromise on Donetsk and Luhansk.