Following a failed third round of peace talks and an alleged assassination of a member of the Ukrainian negotiating delegation, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and his Ukrainian counterpart Dmytro Kuleba met in Antalya, Turkey. This is the first high-level talks since the invasion to discuss a ceasefire and a humanitarian corridor in the Ukrainian port city of Mariupol, where the Russians bombed a children’s hospital, wounding 17 people and injuring more in the process.

According to Kuleba, the high-level talks were said to be “difficult” with a tense atmosphere. Originally, he wanted to pursue a 24-hour ceasefire across all active war zones as well as a humanitarian corridor in the city of Mariupol to evacuate civilians. However, the talks between the two foreign ministers, which lasted for about an hour and 40 minutes, made no significant progress as Russian foreign minister Lavrov denied doing any of the two.

“We also raised the issue of a ceasefire… a 24-hour ceasefire to resolve the most pressing humanitarian issues,” he said. “We did not make progress on this since that it seems that there are other decision-makers for this matter in Russia.”

Lavrov, who was also sanctioned by the international community due to his participation in the Russian invasion, reiterated to Kuleba that Russia wanted a demilitarized Ukraine. It was apparent that the Russian side was not interested in negotiating the terms as a demilitarized Ukraine was one of Russia’s initial demands.