*Moscow expects meeting will hold – Russian Foreign Ministry
By BASHIR ADEFAKA with the Agencies
The seat of power in Ukraine, Kyiv, has confirmed that a meeting between Ukrainian Foreign Minister, Dmitry Kuleba, and his Russian counterpart, Sergey Lavrov, will take place on the sidelines of a diplomatic forum in Turkey’s Antalya on Thursday.
The DEFENDER reports that the meeting believed to have been initiated by the Republic of Turkey is one of the ways Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, not intending to fuel but douse the crisis in Ukraine, has chosen to calm Russia as against choosing sanctions and contribution of weapons to fuel the war.
It will be recalled that United States of America’s President Joe Biden and European leaders – rather than make peace in Ukraine – have refused to see the point Russian President Vladimir Putin is making and so have chosen, not only to contribute more weapons and hundreds of millions of dollars in aids to Ukraine as the war continues but also, to heap sanctions with intent to punishing Moscow the latest of which was Washington’s ban on Russian oil imports Tuesday.
Republic of Turkey is a transcontinental country located mainly on Anatolia in Western Asia with a portion on the Balkans in South East Europe. Anatolia, also known as Asia Minor, is a large peninsula in Western Asia and the westernmost protrusion of the Asian continent.
While not turning down the offer as announced on Monday by the Ukrainian Foreign Minister, Dmitry Kuleba, Moscow expects that the meeting will indeed be held, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman, Maria Zakharova, told the Sputnik radio station on Wednesday.
Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba speaks during a news conference with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken at the State Department in Washington, U.S., February 22, 2022. Carolyn Kaster/Pool via REUTERS
According to Tass, the Russian News Agency, she hopes that since the confirmation is not from her country but Ukraine, the meeting will take place.
“We believe that since Ukraine has confirmed it, the meeting will indeed take place, particularly because it was initiated by Turkey, the host of the event on the sidelines of which the meeting is expected to be held,” the Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman pointed out.
Zakharova emphasized that Russia was making preparations for the talks but there was no need to rush things, adding that Lavrov’s flight to Antalya was scheduled for Wednesday. Antalya is the fifth most populous city in Turkey as well as the capital Antalya Province in the partly Asia, partly Europe country.
Lavrov and Kuleba are expected to meet on the sidelines of a diplomatic forum in Antalya on March 10, the meeting will also involve Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu.
On February 24, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a special military operation based on a request from the heads of the Donbass republics. The Russian leader stressed that Moscow had no plans to occupy Ukrainian territories and the goal was to demilitarize and denazify the country.
