Ukrainian and Russian Foreign Ministry officials held a “meeting of expectations” in Turkey.

 When Ukraine’s Dmytro Kuleba and Russia’s Sergei Lavrov met in Turkey on Thursday, expectations were low. Kuleba called on Russia to allow the evacuation of civilians from the besieged city of Mariupol through a “humanitarian corridor” but said Lavrov had promised nothing to that effect. The Ukrainian minister said his Russian counterpart had not made such a commitment but had agreed to discuss it with the relevant authorities. Kuleba said the meeting had been “difficult” but added that the two sides had agreed to continue talking, saying Ukraine was ready for diplomacy. But Moscow, he said, was still seeking “a surrender from Ukraine,” and Kyiv would not do that.

On the contrary, Ukraine is determined to defend itself. Ahead of the meeting, Ukraine said its conditions were for an immediate ceasefire, an improvement in the humanitarian situation in Ukrainian cities, and a withdrawal of Russian troops from Ukrainian territory. In return, the Russian Minister shocked the entire world with his statement, “We do not plan to attack other countries; we did not attack Ukraine either.”