Istanbul - Saba:
Turkish Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Oncu Kıçeli announced that the second round of negotiations between the delegations of the Russian Federation and Ukraine in Istanbul on Monday ended "not negatively."
Kıçeli said in a press statement: "The negotiations did not end negatively, and the delegations are currently having lunch."
The second round of negotiations between the Russian and Ukrainian delegations, which lasted for more than an hour, concluded on Monday at the Ciragan Palace in Istanbul, in the presence of a Turkish delegation. The negotiations were chaired by Russian Presidential Aide Vladimir Medinsky.
Earlier yesterday, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said in an opening remark at the start of the negotiations that Ankara is ready to do whatever is necessary to resolve the conflict in Ukraine. Fidan added, "We expect the negotiations to be fruitful and achieve their goals. This is our main aspiration."
Separately, a source in the Russian delegation announced on Monday that Russia and Ukraine discussed the prisoner exchange in detail during the talks held in Istanbul.
Sputnik quoted the unidentified source as saying, "Russia and Ukraine discussed the prisoner exchange in detail, and the results will be officially announced."
A press conference is expected to be held by the Russian delegation in Istanbul soon. The talks lasted for more than an hour at Ciragan Palace.
A Turkish diplomatic source told Sputnik that there are no specific agreements regarding the upcoming meeting between the Russian and Ukrainian delegations at this time.
Turkish Foreign Ministry spokesman Oncu Kıçeli said that the second round of negotiations between the Russian and Ukrainian delegations in Istanbul ended "negatively."
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