President Erdoğan suggests Türkiye as platform for talks between Ukraine and Russia again

Zelenskyy and Erdoğan. Stock photo: Getty Images

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has once again suggested his country as a platform for negotiations between Kyiv and Moscow, including for a “peace summit” with the participation of Russia.

Source: Erdoğan at a joint press-conference with Volodymyr Zelenskyy, President of Ukraine, as reported by European Pravda

Erdoğan stated that during the conversation with the Ukrainian president, he shared his observations and sincere thoughts about the Russo-Ukrainian war and stressed that Türkiye supports the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine and a stable peace.

Advertisement:

Erdoğan stressed that the war “has an increasingly negative influence” and expressed his frustration about the fact that the potential of the negotiations platform created by Türkiye in March 2022 had not been used.  

“Since the beginning we were making and are currently making a contribution into ending the war through negotiations. We are ready to hold a peace summit involving Russia,” Erdoğan said.

He added that Ankara offered its support for new agreements between Ukraine and Russia like the Black Sea Grain Deal.

Zelenskyy noted that he had discussed the forthcoming peace summit in Switzerland with Erdoğan and he counted upon Türkiye’s leadership in the implementation of this initiative.

Zelenskyy’s statement implied that Erdoğan was trying to convince him to involve Russia in this format during the talks, even though he did not say it directly.

“On the format of the inaugural summit…We do not understand how people who block and destroy everything and kill everyone can be invited. We want results: a just peace for Ukraine. So let the civilised countries work out a detailed plan and achieve results with it first, and then we can involve Russian representatives ready for just peace,” Zelenskyy stressed.

Background: Earlier, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said that Ankara continues to support a peaceful settlement of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine and is ready to offer a platform for relevant “negotiations”.

Hakan Fidan, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Türkiye, stressed the necessity to hold negotiations on a ceasefire in Ukraine as soon as possible.

Support UP or become our patron!