Turkey says 'reasons for hope' ahead of Ukraine-Russia talks

Turkey's top diplomat said Thursday said there was cause for hope ahead of Istanbul talks between Russian and Ukrainian mediators in what would be their first direct talks in over three years.

"If the parties' positions are harmonized and trust is established, a very important step towards peace will have been taken," Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan told a NATO meeting in the southern Turkish city of Antalya.

"We have enough reasons to be hopeful," he added.

"Today, Ukrainian President Mr. (Volodymyr) Zelensky is in Ankara in talks with our President (Recep Tayyip Erdogan). A technical delegation from Russia is in Istanbul.. (U.S. Secretary of State Marco) Rubio is also with us here in Antalya," he said.

"These visits alone show that the will necessary for peace is finally emerging."

Despite initially proposing talks in Istanbul on Thursday, Russian President Vladimir Putin appeared poised to skip the meeting, despite Zelensky agreeing to attend in person.

Instead, Moscow has dispatched a team headed by hardline former culture minister Vladimir Medinsky to Istanbul.

Zelensky has dismissed this as a "show" delegation, which appeared to have little authority to take any concrete decisions.