This follows an earlier report the same day by CNN Turk that the Ukrainian and Russian delegations could meet in Ankara on April 15-16. Sources in the Turkish Defense Ministry reportedly said that the talks would be held at the Naval Headquarters.
On March 25, the White House released a statement following three days of U.S.-Ukrainian and U.S.-Russian negotiations in Riyadh, claiming that Kyiv and Moscow had agreed to ensure safe navigation in the Black Sea and committed to drafting measures to support a ceasefire specifically for energy infrastructure.
Ukrainian Defense Minister Rustem Umerov said that if Russia moved any of its warships outside the eastern sector of the Black Sea, it would violate the agreement and give Ukraine full legal grounds to defend itself.
Russia, for its part, issued a similar statement, but claimed that the safe passage provision would only take effect after the U.S. met a number of conditions, including lifting sanctions on Russian agricultural exporters and lifting restrictions on Rosselkhozbank, Russia's state-owned agricultural bank.