ANKARA (Reuters) -Russian President Vladimir Putin and Turkey’s foreign minister discussed at a meeting in Moscow efforts to end the war in Ukraine and developments since direct talks between the warring parties, a Turkish Foreign Ministry source said.
Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan is on a two-day visit to Moscow, where the source said he met Putin on Monday and also Russia’s lead negotiator, Vladimir Medinsky. Fidan will meet his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov on Tuesday.
While no timetable or location has been agreed for any future talks between Russia and Ukraine, NATO ally Turkey has repeatedly said it could host them.
Delegates from Moscow and Kyiv met in Istanbul earlier this month for the first time since March 2022, a month after Russia invaded its neighbour. No ceasefire was agreed, but the sides agreed to trade 1,000 prisoners of war and deliver, in writing, their conditions for a possible ceasefire.
In their meeting, Putin and Fidan discussed “the initiatives carried out recently to end the war between Ukraine and Russia, (and) developments following the negotiations held in Istanbul,” the Turkish source said.
Bilateral economy and energy issues were discussed as well, the source added.
Russia said on Monday that the main topic of the talks would be bilateral relations, but that Ukraine would also be discussed.
Ahead of the meeting, the Turkish source had said Fidan would reiterate Ankara’s offer to host the sides and continue playing a “facilitator” role.
Fidan is also expected to travel to Kyiv later this week to meet Ukrainian officials and follow up on the Istanbul talks.
Russian sources have said they viewed Turkey, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Oman as potentially suitable venues for talks.
(Reporting by Tuvan Gumrukcu; Editing by Aidan Lewis)
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