A Turkish official said that Russia and Ukraine are willing to hold peace discussions despite the Bucha massacre, but there are "issues pending."

"Both Russia and Ukraine are willing to hold the talks in Turkey but they are far away from agreeing on a common text," the official said.

There are "some pending issues," including the status of the Donbass and Crimea regions as well as security guarantees, according to the official, who added there was no date fixed for the next round of negotiations.

Turkey, which hosted talks last week between Russian and Ukrainian negotiators, has been mediating to find a solution to end the conflict.

"We are the only country that can talk to both parties, the only country able to talk to Russia," the official stressed.

"Imposing sanctions is not a good way to solve the issue," the Turkish official said, adding that Ankara would only join United Nations' sanctions.

The official said the most delicate issues were discussed in Istanbul between the two countries' negotiators, without providing any details.

"We have some ideas about the content but is it a peace treaty? We cannot qualify the document."

According to the official, the two countries have "agreed on some issues," including the so-called de-Nazification, Ukraine's neutrality and security guarantees.

But they have to define the security guarantees because some countries "are concerned this could lead to direct confrontation with Russia," the official said.

"There are some legal issues to be solved as part of guarantors."

At the earlier peace talks in Istanbul, Ukrainian negotiators said Kyiv was ready to accept neutrality in return for security guarantees to be provided by the five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council as well as some other countries, including Turkey, Germany, Canada and Israel.

Ukrainian negotiators have compared the security guarantees they want with NATO treaty's Article 5 where members agree to come to the defense of one another in case of military aggression.

On March 31, Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu had said the Russian and Ukrainian foreign ministers could meet within two weeks but the images that emerged from Bucha last weekend have cast a shadow on the peace talks, according to the Turkish government.

Russia has accused Ukrainian negotiators of changing demands since the Istanbul talks, claiming that Kyiv was not interested in ending the fighting.

In return, Ukraine urged Russia to show it was ready for dialogue by lowering "hostility."

NATO ally Turkey borders Ukraine and Russia in the Black Sea and has good ties with both. Since the beginning of the conflict, Ankara has offered to mediate between the two sides and host peace talks, underlining its support for Ukraine’s territorial integrity and sovereignty. Having recently called Russia’s invasion an unacceptable violation of international law, Turkey has carefully formulated its rhetoric not to offend Moscow, with which it has close energy, defense and tourism ties.

While forging close ties with Russia on energy, defense and trade, and relying heavily on Russian tourists, Turkey has sold drones to Ukraine, which angered Moscow. Turkey also opposes Russian policies in Syria and Libya, as well as Moscow's annexation of Crimea.

Erdoğan has repeatedly said Turkey will not abandon its relations with Russia or Ukraine, underlining that Ankara's ability to speak to both sides is an asset.