Turkish officials on March 19 said that talks between Russia and Ukraine are nearing agreement on “critical” issues that could lead to a ceasefire, so long as the two sides do not backtrack on the progress they have achieved so far. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and his Ukrainian counterpart Dmytro Kuleba met in the Turkish resort town of Antalya earlier this month, with Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu also in attendance. Those talks did not produce any concrete results. Cavusoglu also traveled to Russia and Ukraine last week for talks with Lavrov and Kuleba. He told Turkish daily Hurriyet in an interview published on Sunday 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. “There are open channels between the leaders. This is …