Last week, Russia and Ukraine had been holding in-person and virtual peace talks in the past week. Both sides described the talks as difficult. However, Ukrainian and Russian negotiators have reached an agreement on enough elements of a potential peace agreement that it is ready to be discussed between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, a top Ukrainian negotiator said Saturday, according to Interfax Ukraine.

During talks in Turkey earlier this week, after Ukrainian officials shared the proposals for non-military negotiations regarding Crimea, the Russian negotiator Vladimir Medinsky said the Russian side had proposed a meeting between Putin and Zelensky.

Additionally, the head of the Ukrainian delegation at the talks, David Arakhamia, said during an interview on Ukrainian television that Russian negotiators on Friday had agreed to all of Ukraine’s positions, except for its stance on Crimea.

The Russian negotiators also agreed the draft documents were ready to be sent to Putin and Zelensky for direct discussions, Arakhamia said. According to Arakhamia, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan had spoken to Putin and Ukrainian officials on Friday, and “seemed to confirm” Turkish officials are ready to arrange a meeting in Turkey in the “near future.”

Market implications

Such sentiment is a positive backdrop for the open this week and could weigh on the price of gold and safe-haven assets in general. 

• Chart of the Week, Gold: XAU/USD is pressured for the open