Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu has said that Russia and Ukraine are nearing agreement on “critical” issues and he is hopeful for a ceasefire if the two sides do not backtrack from progress achieved so far.

In an interview Hurriyet daily on Sunday, the top Turkish diplomat said that there had been “rapprochement in the positions of both sides on important subjects, critical subjects”.

“We can say we are hopeful for a ceasefire if the sides do not take a step back from the current positions,” he said, without elaborating on the issues.

Turkish Presidential Spokesman Ibrahim Kalin, speaking to Al-Jazeera television earlier, said the two sides were getting closer on four key issues.

He cited Russia’s demand for Ukraine to renounce ambitions to join NATO, demilitarization, what Russia has referred to as “de-nazification”, and the protection of the Russian language in Ukraine.

Source: TRT