‘Cold welcome and no handshakes’: Russian and Ukrainian delegations meet for ceasefire talks in Turkey, attended by Abramovich and Erdogan
There were “no handshakes” as Russian and Ukrainian officials met in Turkey for ceasefire talks, attended billionaire oligarch Roman Abramovich and president Erdoğan.
Delegations for the two countries gathered in Istanbul, with Turkish leader Recep Tayyip Erdoğan pictured speaking to the Chelsea owner.
A video also appeared online of the Russian businessman, who has alleged ties to president Vladimir Putin, greeting the Turkish head of state. Erdogan reportedly said that “stopping this tragedy” was up to the two groups of representatives.
Reuters report it started with a “cold welcome”, and no handshakes, while Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said on state television, the talks were not about “trading people, land or sovereignty.”
“The minimum programme will be humanitarian questions, and the maximum programme is reaching an agreement on a ceasefire”.
According to Sky News, Erdogan said: “Achieving a ceasefire and peace as soon as possible is to the benefit of everyone.
“We think we have now entered a period where concrete results are needed from talks. The negotiating process, which you have been carrying out under the orders of your leaders, has raised hopes for peace.”
This comes after it was reported that Abramovich suffered symptoms of poisoning when he attended similar peace talks earlier in the month, in Kyiv.
Moscow previously said the oligarch played a key role in the negations, but they were now in the hands of the two sides, directly.