By Afshain Afzal

With a just single incident of missile attack reported for whole 29^th March, the locals witnessed the halt of Russian attacks as sigh of relief. The Turkish Foreign Ministry confirming that the Tuesday, 29 March 2022 talks, were successful, the 30^th March direct talks are seen as a ray of hope. This time there was no publicity of the Turkish convening of new round of talks or beating of chest by either side, even the successful round conducted via video link was not given much coverage. Turkish mediation in the direct talks was successful as President Volodymyr Zelenskyy special assistant also confirmed without giving any further details that 30 March meeting will bring fruits. Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba was quoted to have said, “In talks with Russia in Turkey both sides agreed in principle on a cease-fire”.

In the Istanbul moot the peace agenda points have already been agreed upon. Withdrawal will start from Kyiv, Chernihiv and other locations.

The efforts of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan are being appreciated by not only Moscow and Kyiv but internationally, President Erdogan is seen as “The man who averted World War”. A great human tragedy has been averted. The International Federation of Red Cross (IFRC) has flashed that an estimated 18 million people in Ukraine are needing humanitarian aid psot Russia’s invasion and their displacement from their homes. With the successful Istanbul talks and agreement on cease fire followed by gradual withdraw, the Jews, Christian and Muslims have expressed thanks to President Erdogan and recommended his name for “Noble Peace Award”.