The Russian and Ukrainian foreign ministers held talks in Antalya, Turkey on Thursday, their first meeting since the military conflict between the two countries started, though the meeting failed to reach meaningful consensus.

Analysts said high-ranking negotiations between the two sides are a positive signal, and the majority of the international community, including China, will welcome and encourage relevant parties to continue to make diplomatic efforts.

According to press conferences held by Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and his Ukrainian counterpart Dmytro Kuleba after the trilateral meeting with Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu, the talks didn’t conclude with a significant breakthrough.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said that he is no longer pressing for NATO membership for Ukraine, a delicate issue that was one of Russia’sstated reasons for taking special military operations, AFP reported.

Cui Heng, an assistant research fellow at the Center for Russian Studies of East China Normal University, said that the latest talks in Turkey are at least a clear signal for peace, because if the previous lower-level talks saw no progress, the two sides wouldn’t have agreed to fly to Turkey for a meeting, and it could be a response to the demand for talks among the international community.

Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi said in a virtual meeting with Italian Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio that the Russia-Ukraine higherlevel engagement and consultation is a positive step forward to peace.

Unlike the Crimea crisis in 2014, major European countries cannot play a meaningful role to mediate the conflict this time, but Turkey has some special advantages, experts said.

Turkey is the best example for Ukraine to understand how to deal with the EU and NATO. Turkey has campaigned to join the EU for decades. It applied for membership as early as 1987, became a candidate in 1999, and began formal negotiations in 2005, followed by more than a decade of seesaw battles.

"Turkey’s overall strength is better than Ukraine’s, honestly speaking. If Turkey can hardly join the EU, why does Ukraine bother making so much effort for this goal?" Wang Yiwei, director of the institute of international affairs at the Renmin University of China, told the Global Times.

Ukraine now knows what NATO and the EU really think. So Zelensky said he is no longer pressing for NATO membership for Ukraine. "This is already new progress and is conducive to the outcome of the negotiations." Wang said.

As the West continues to impose sanctions on Russia, it has already caused great losses to both European countries and Russia. European countries are so dependent on Russia for energy that it would be expensive to switch to other sources. It’s much more than a matter of years to find a replacement, Wang said.

Some observers believe that the US is the biggest winner in the current situation, however, the interests of many American companies are also bundled up with Europe, and it is the US’ own interests that will eventually be hurt if the conflict extends, Wang said.

原文链接：[Global Times]China welcomes positive step of Russia-Ukraine ministers' talks toward goal of peace

（责任编辑：刘晓阳）