But Cavusoglu, who also travelled to Russia and Ukraine last week for talks with Lavrov and Kuleba, told Turkish daily Hurriyet that there had been “rapprochement in the positions of both sides on important subjects, critical subjects”.
“We can say we are hopeful for a ceasefire if the sides do not take a step back from the current positions,” he said, without elaborating on the issues.
Turkish presidential spokesman Ibrahim Kalin, speaking to al Jazeera television, said the two sides were getting closer on four key issues. He cited Russia’s demand for Ukraine to renounce ambitions to join NATO, demilitarisation, what Russia has referred to as “de-nazification”, and the protection of the Russian language in Ukraine.
Ukraine and the West have dismissed Russian references to “neo-Nazis” in Ukraine’s democratically elected leadership as baseless propaganda, and Kalin said such references were offensive to Kyiv.