Positive signals seen for peace talks in Istanbul

Russian and Ukrainian negotiators will resume face-to-face talks as soon as Tuesday in Istanbul, according to a Russian presidential aide on Sunday, with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky saying that his country is willing to accept neutrality as part of a peace deal.

The holding of the next round of in-person meetings was announced on Sunday by Russian presidential aide Vladimir Medinsky, who also leads the Russian delegation to the talks. Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan earlier that day spoke by phone.

According to the Turkish presidential office, Erdogan told Putin that his country will continue its mediation efforts in an effort to establish peace between Russia and Ukraine.

"President Erdogan stressed the necessity of reaching a truce and peace between Russia and Ukraine as soon as possible, and of improving the humanitarian situation in the region. He added that Turkey will continue to make its contribution to this process," Erdogan's office said.

Medinsky wrote on his social network account earlier on Sunday that a regular round of online talks with Ukraine was held, and he confirmed the agreement for officials from the two sides to meet in person on Tuesday and Wednesday.

Turkey said the talks could begin as early as Monday, but Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that was unlikely as the negotiators would only be arriving on Monday.

Zelensky spoke optimistically about the new negotiations, saying he hoped they would bring peace "without delay" and lamented the effects of a monthlong Russian special military operation.

Neutral status

Ukraine is ready to accept a neutral status as part of a peace deal with Russia, Zelensky said.

Any agreement would have to be put to the Ukrainian people in a referendum, he said. But Zelensky once again stressed his desire to reach a concrete peace agreement.

"Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity are beyond doubt. Effective security guarantees for our state are mandatory," Zelensky said in a late-night video message that also set out his negotiating bottom lines.

Zelensky called for Moscow to halt the bombardment of cities like Mariupol, where officials said the situation is "catastrophic".

Several attempts at establishing safe routes for civilians to flee have collapsed as both sides traded accusations of violating temporary cease-fires.

About 170,000 civilians remain trapped in Mariupol without adequate food, water or medicine, according to Ukraine's foreign ministry. Russia said the Ukrainian military has been holding the civilians as "hostages" in the southern port city.

France, Greece and Turkey hope to launch a "humanitarian operation" to evacuate civilians from Mariupol within days, according to French President Emmanuel Macron.

Macron warned on Sunday against a verbal "escalation" of the situation after United States President Joe Biden called Putin a "butcher" who "cannot remain in power", a remark the Kremlin snapped back at. It said, "a head of state should stay sober".

Macron said he would speak to Putin in the next few days to organize the evacuation of civilians from Mariupol.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said his country is against any suggestion of sending NATO peacekeepers to Ukraine.

"We will not act there in the military sphere even if one calls it peacekeeping troops," he said. "We won't aspire to create a no-fly zone there."

Scholz said he was doing "everything to help Ukraine". Currently "sanctions are the main tool "against Russia, he said.

Leonid Pasechnik, the head of the self-proclaimed republic of Lugansk, said a referendum on becoming part of Russia may be held in the near future.

But the proposal was opposed by Russia's lower house of parliament, with the head of the State Duma Committee on the Commonwealth of Independent States Affairs, Leonid Kalashnikov, saying it's "not the right time to do this now".