In Antalya, Thursday, the Russian and Ukrainian foreign ministers have not managed to get along on a ceasefire. What does not prevent Turkish President, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, boasting his role as “facilitator”.
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Organized by Turkey, the first direct talks held in the seaside resort of Antalya, Thursday, March 10, between the Russian and Ukrainian Foreign Ministers, Sergei Lavrov and Dmyro Kuleba, failed. Both diplomats have not managed to agree on a ceasefire. Icy, without handshake, the face-to-face lasted an hour and a half and ended without the result, while the ruthless war delivered by the Russian President, Vladimir Putin, to Ukraine just entered into His third week.
A joint press conference is not possible, everyone gave his own. With the plumb that characterizes it, Mr. Lavrov assured that his country “did not invade Ukraine” and that the maternity of Maroupol, bombed on Thursday morning by Russian hunters at the price of 3 dead, accommodated actually ” The AZOV battalion and other radicals “, a way to recognize the deliberate nature of the air strike. Moscow has never wanted the war and seeks to end the current conflict, “he assured, but the contacts” must have added value “, namely the surrender of Ukraine, that Russia continues. to require.
According to Mr. Kuleba, Russian aggression will continue until Ukraine capitulates – such would be the message that his counterpart would have sent him. “We can not stop the war if the aggressor country does not want to do it,” he lamented. A failure he expected. Before arriving in Antalya, he had entrusted that his expectations were “limited”, given the incredible brutality of the Russian army on the ground, which there and bomb the Ukrainian cities, targeting civilian populations, schools, schools. Hospitals. He had also recalled that the leeway of the head of Russian diplomacy was limited, because dependent “instructions” received from Mr. Putin.
It was the first trip abroad of Mr. Lavrov, deprived of Tribune since Russia finds itself isolated because of sanctions, air routes with the rest of the world having been interrupted. Rare country who left his open airspace, Turkey offered a step that he could not refuse. The welcome was warm Turkish side, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mevlüt Çavusoglu, who sponsored the meeting, claiming that it was going to mark “a turning”.
Turkey in uncomfortable position
By winning as a “neutral” mediator in the conflict, Turkish President, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, also seeks to pick up the pieces of his damaged relationship with his traditional allies, strongly irritated by his safe alliance with Russia. Its margin of maneuver is narrow. According to the Galip Dalay researcher, the Think Tank Chatham House, “the geopolitical balance of Turkey, when it deals with Russia, is to try to be pro-Kiev, without being openly anti-Moscow”.
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