Turkish President Recep Erdogan told Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday that he could host a meeting between him and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Velenskiy in Turkey, and told Putin that a permanent ceasefire could lead to a long-term solution, reported Reuters. 

The reports come after Ukrainian Foreign Minster Dmytro Kuleba said earlier in the day that Ukraine and Turkey were focused on setting up a meeting of the Russian and Ukrainian Presidents and that Ukraine is ready to continue with diplomatic efforts to stop Russian aggression. 

Market Reaction

While markets are yet to hear the Russian response, the more positive-sounding headlines coming from the Ukrainians and Turkish regarding a potential Presidential meeting appear to be spurring some hopes for a ceasefire, which seems to be impacting markets. The Dollar Index (DXY) has fallen back towards session lows in the 98.10s in recent trade, while the S&P 500 has been pushing higher and is now in the green and comfortably back above the 4350 level.