ANKARA: Russia and Ukraine have made headway on the "critical" provisions of a negotiated ceasefire agreement, but other matters still await decisions by their leaders, according to Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu.

"If the parties do not change their existing positions, we may say that we are hopeful for a cease-fire," Cavusoglu told the Turkish daily Hurriyet.

"We observe that the parties are close to agreement on basic issues," Cavusoglu said while attending a meeting of the ruling Justice and Development Party. Cavusoglu met with his Russian and Ukrainian counterparts in Moscow and Lviv, respectively, throughout the last week.

Turkey's Presidential Spokesperson Ibrahim Kalin told Hurriyet on Saturday that Moscow and Kiev were negotiating six points, including "Ukraine's neutrality, disarmament and security guarantees, the 'de-Nazification,' removal of obstacles to the use of the Russian language in Ukraine, the status of Donbass, and the status of Crimea." On March 10, Turkey hosted the Russian and Ukrainian foreign ministries on the margins of a diplomatic event for their first high-level meetings since the crisis began, albeit the sessions did not result in much progress toward a truce.

Putin feared his death, took this big step

Threat siren blows up in Ukraine, will be in turmoil

Peace talks between Ukraine and Russia could span several weeks