Turkiye offers to host possible Ukraine-Russia talks

Turkiye said on Monday that it was ready to host possible talks between Ukraine and Russia and would support any initiative leading to peace, following a visit to Ankara by Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, Reuters has reported.

NATO-member Turkiye hosted initial talks between the sides months after Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine, helping secure a deal for the safe passage of grain exports in the Black Sea.

Speaking alongside Lavrov on the third anniversary of Russia’s invasion, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said Ankara valued a US initiative for peace as a “result-oriented” approach, but repeated that both sides must participate for a solution.

“In that framework, we are ready to contribute all forms of support for peace to be achieved through talks,” explained Fidan. “We are ready to host these talks as we have done before.”

While the minister did not repeat Ankara’s long-held stance supporting Ukraine’s territorial integrity, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan did so in a separate video message marking the anniversary.

Asked about the security guarantees that Ukraine has demanded from the United States and Western partners for ending the war, Fidan said Ankara was “ready to take any step contributing to peace in principle.”

According to Lavrov, Russia’s position on the conditions needed to end the war had not changed and that scrapping Ukraine’s bid for NATO membership was non-negotiable. He met Erdogan later.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy visited Turkiye for talks with Erdogan last week, on the same day that US and Russian representatives met in Riyadh for talks aimed at ending the war. Kyiv was not invited to participate.

Zelenskyy said on Sunday that he saw Turkiye as an important security guarantor for Ukraine.

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