ISTANBUL, May 1 — Turkish presidential spokesman Ibrahim Kalin met yesterday with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Kyiv, his office said. 

There were no immediate details about the content of Kalin's meetings in Kyiv, but Ankara has been mediating between Ukraine and Russia in efforts to end the war.

Kalin was accompanied by Deputy Foreign Minister Sedat Onal.

Turkey hosted a meeting between Moscow and Kyiv negotiators in Istanbul and another between Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and Ukrainian counterpart Dmytro Kuleba in Antalya in March. 

Erdogan is now trying to pave the way for an Istanbul summit between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Zelensky.

Erdogan told Putin in a phone call on Thursday that Turkey wanted "to establish a lasting peace in the region as soon as possible by increasing the momentum gained in the Istanbul talks”, his office said. — AFP