Russia is grateful to Turkey for its readiness to assist in the search for a solution to the Ukraine crisis, appreciates Ankara's balanced position. Yuri Pilipson, director of the Fourth European Department of the Russian foreign ministry, said this in an interview with RIA Novosti.

“As it is known, Russian Federation Foreign Minister Sergey Viktorovich Lavrov’s talks with his Ukrainian counterpart Dmitry Kuleba were held on March 10 in Antalya, Turkey—with the participation and support of Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu. The agreement for the meeting between the presidents of Russia and Turkey had been reached earlier," Pilipson added.