Russia and Ukraine have made progress in negotiations and the two sides are close to reaching an agreement, Turkey said Sunday amid its diplomatic push for permanent peace in the region, TurkicWorld reports citing Daily Sabah.

"Of course, it is not an easy thing to come to terms with while the war is going on, while civilians are killed," Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavushoglu said in live comments from the southern Turkish province of Antalya at a ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) meeting, adding, however, that momentum appears to be building.

"We see that the parties are close to an agreement."

"We can say we are hopeful for a cease-fire if the sides do not take a step back from the current positions," he said, without elaborating more.

Cavushoglu last week visited Russia and Ukraine as Turkey, which has strong bonds with the two sides, has tried to position itself as a mediator.

There had been a "rapprochement in the positions of both sides on important subjects, critical subjects," he underlined.

Ankara hosted the foreign ministers of Russia and Ukraine in Antalya earlier this month.

Foreign ministers Sergey Lavrov of Russia and Dmytro Kuleba of Ukraine met for talks in the Turkish resort town of Antalya, which Cavushoglu also attended. The talks were largely inconclusive, but Ankara considers the fact that they took place at all a success.

Cavushoglu said Turkey was in contact with the negotiating teams from the two countries but he refused to divulge the details of the talks as "we (Turkey) play an honest mediator and facilitator role."

The top diplomat also said in a tweet on Monday that he discussed regional developments in Ukraine with the Emirati Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan in Abu Dhabi.

Presidential Spokesperson Ibrahim Kalin also said over the weekend that the sides were negotiating six points.

He said the two sides were getting closer to agreeing on four key issues.

Kalin said a permanent cease-fire could come only through a meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. However, he said Putin felt that their positions on the "strategic issues" were not close enough to warrant a meeting.