The latest round of peace talks aimed at resolving the war situation between Russia and Ukraine began on the 29th in Istanbul, Turkey.

 The Russian-Ukrainian delegation had been arriving in Turkey since yesterday to attend the event.

So far there have been three face-to-face discussions between the two countries. At one point, a virtual discussion was also organized over the Internet.

But those discussions did not yield any results. Welcoming the representatives of the two countries, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said, “We hope that these talks will benefit both countries as well as the region, because Turkey is deeply saddened by this conflict.”

The Turkish President also hopes that the summit will provide an opportunity for future talks between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Vladimir Selensky.

 According to foreign media reports, the Russian side has laid down several conditions for the talks to be successful. The basic condition is that Ukraine declares itself to be a neutral state, not affiliated with NATO.

Ukraine has already agreed to this condition, but says its country needs security reassurances from the West as well as Russia before taking such a step.

Meanwhile, the BBC reports that Roman Abromovich, a wealthy Russian businessman who has been a Russian envoy since the beginning of peace talks between Ukraine and Russia, has been poisoned.