President Vladimir Putin's demands are concise, and following a phone call between the Russian leader and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, four of them are fairly easy to reach agreement on, Erdogan's chief adviser Ibrahim Kalin told me.
They include an acceptance by Ukraine that it should be neutral in future, and shouldn’t become a member of the western military alliance, Nato. Ukraine's President Zelensky said as much the other day.
Other demands Putin is making include a "denazification clause", which - though offensive to Zelensky - seems easy enough to accept, according to the Turkish side, and undertakings to protect the Russian language.
That's where the easy part ends.
Putin is also demanding parts of eastern Ukraine, and acceptance from Zelensky that Crimea, seized by Russia in 2014, is now a permanent part of Russia.
This, Putin said, can only be sorted out face-to-face with his Ukrainian opponent, who has already said he's willing to talk.
But the Turkish side thinks it could be weeks before there's any agreement.
I asked Ibrahim Kalin, who listened in to the call, how Putin had sounded; was he excitable, or maybe threatening? No, said the Turkish president's adviser - he had been normal and precise
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