Turkey offers to broker meeting between Russian and Ukrainian foreign ministers

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu, left, speaks with Nato Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg (Olivier Matthys/AP)

Turkey’s foreign minister says Ankara wants to bring Russia and Ukraine’s top diplomats together for talks during an international diplomacy forum in the country next week.

Speaking on Friday to reporters in Brussels where he attended a Nato meeting, Mevlut Cavusoglu said Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov has confirmed his attendance at the Antalya Diplomacy Forum to be held in the Mediterranean coastal city between March 11-13.

Mr Cavusoglu said a meeting between Mr Lavrov and Ukraine’s Dmytro Kuleba could be possible.

Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov (Russian foreign ministry/AP)

But he added that he was not certain Ukrainian officials would be able to attend.

Turkey, which has close ties to both Ukraine and Russia, has been trying to balance its relations with both.

It has repeatedly offered to mediate between the two.