Delegations from Russia and Ukraine have arrived in Istanbul, Turkey’s capital, for a peace conference.
According to NAN, Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan welcomed the negotiators when they arrived in his office at Dolmabahce Palace on Tuesday.
The delegates’ presence at the Dolmabahce Palace was for negotiations to stop the “tragedy,” Erdogan declared.
He went on to say that a rapid ceasefire will benefit everyone.
Erdogan, who has strong connections with both Kiev and Moscow, expressed optimism about a cease-fire agreement.
Negotiations between the Ukrainian and Russian delegations, on the other hand, were proving problematic.
Kyiv wanted a withdrawal of Russian troops from its territories as well as additional security guarantees.
Moscow is demanding that Ukraine renounce its NATO bid, recognise the breakaway eastern Ukrainian separatist areas as separate states and the Black Sea peninsula of Crimea, annexed in 2014, as part of Russia.