this does not mean occupation is recognised

Hakan Fidan, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Türkiye, has advocated holding negotiations on a ceasefire in Ukraine soon, noting that this does not imply recognition of the occupation of Ukrainian territory.

Source: European Pravda with reference to Reuters

Details: On 1 March, Fidan met with his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov on the sidelines of the Antalya Diplomacy Forum.

He revealed that they had discussed a number of issues, including the situation in Ukraine.

“On the issue of Ukraine, our view is that both sides have reached the limits of what they can get by war. We think that it is time to start a dialogue for a ceasefire,” Fidan said.

Fidan insisted that the negotiations do not mean recognising the Russian occupation of certain parts of the Ukrainian territory.

He stated that “the issues of sovereignty and ceasefire should be discussed separately”.

“The death and injury of more than 500,000 people and the complete destruction of the infrastructure and superstructure of an entire country is not a reality that is bearable for us. This has to stop somehow. To stop this, there should be some discussions and everybody should get used to this idea,” Fidan said.

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

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