Face-to-face talks between Vladimir Medinsky, the head of the Russian delegation and Russian presidential aide, and David Arakhamia, a member of the Ukrainian delegation and chairman of the ruling Servant of the People faction of the Ukrainian parliament, have started in Istanbul, Turkey, a diplomatic source told TASS.

Earlier, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan had addressed these delegations.

These talks in Istanbul are the first face-to-face meeting between the Russian and Ukrainian delegations since March 7.