Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba claimed Friday that he is ready to have a substantive talk with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov whom he called the most experienced diplomat in the world.

"Lavrov is an extremely experienced diplomat and I think he is the longest-serving one in the world today with an insane experience," Kuleba underscored.

"I am ready to talk to him and ready to have a serious, substantive conversation with him," he said in an interview for the Ukrayinska Pravda newspaper.

The two diplomats met last week in Antalya, Turkey, to discuss the ways out of the conflict, with the talks mediated by Ankara.

On Wednesday, Lavrov pointed out that his upcoming meeting with Kuleba depends on the will of the Ukrainian side.

It is noteworthy that Russian President Vladimir Putin spoke Thursday with his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan over the phone and informed him of the ongoing talks between Russia and Ukraine.

A Kremlin statement said that various aspects of Russia's military operation were discussed, as well as the progress of negotiations. Both presidents also expressed their intention to develop their cooperation in the trade, economy, and energy sectors.

For his part, Turkey's Erdogan repeated his proposal to hold a meeting between the two presidents Putin and Zelensky in Turkey and expressed his gratitude for Russia's assistance in evacuating Turkish citizens from Ukraine.