Top Russian and Ukrainian officials will meet on Thursday in Turkey, which will be the first potential talks between the two countries since Moscow attacked Kiev on February 24.
Turkey’s top diplomat Mevlut Cavusoglu announced the matter on Monday in a tweet on his twitter page, expressing his hope that the meeting would lead to change.
The meeting will involve talks between Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba in Antalya, southern Turkey.
Earlier, Turkey, which is also a member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), has repeatedly offered to mediate between the two sides.
Turkey described Russia’s actions against Ukraine as unacceptable even though it was in fact opposed to the economic sanctions imposed on Moscow by Western countries.
Cavusoglu said that in a call with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Sunday, Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan had reiterated Ankara's offer to host the meeting, which was later accepted by Lavrov.
Speaking to Reuters news agency, Cavusoglu expressed Turkey's hope that the meeting would lead to a turning point and an important step towards peace and stability, adding that the two ministers had asked him to join the meeting.
