Turkey says Moscow is ready to meet with Kyiv to end the war
According to the Turkish government, negotiations to end the war are still ongoing and it hopes to achieve different methods and more creative solutions.
Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said Tuesday that the Kremlin has expressed its willingness to participate in new direct talks with Ukraine, and Ankara is now waiting for a response from Kyiv.
"Russia has declared that it is ready for the third round of talks. We are now waiting for a response from Ukraine. Our contact with They continue,” the minister was quoted as saying by the official Anadolu agency.
Other Turkish media outlets report that Fidan made these statements after meeting the day before with his Russian counterpart, Sergey Lavrov, at the BRICS leaders’ summit in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
According to Anadolu, the Turkish Foreign Minister alluded to Istanbul as a possible venue for the negotiations, recalling that the Bosphorus city had already hosted two previous rounds, although he also pointed to other possibilities that some of the BRICS countries could offer.
Fidan admitted that Russia in particular had the idea that “certain things should happen before the talks,” and believed that the negotiating teams should work harder to obtain concrete results in this regard.
Through different methods
According to the Turkish minister, “talks are currently continuing on how to achieve a permanent or temporary ceasefire, either through a leaders’ summit or The existing negotiating delegations can make it a reality,” although the parties have divergent positions on the matter.
“Our advice is that, if they continue negotiating, the initial positions can be reconciled through different methods and more creative solutions. We are conveying this opinion to both sides,” he stressed.
Speaking about a possible leaders’ summit, the Turkish minister said that “everyone, including Mr. Putin, sees no problem in meeting with their current counterparts” and said that “in principle, there is no objection” to US President Donald Trump; Russia’s Vladimir Putin; Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelensky; and Turkey’s Recep Tayyip Erdogan meeting.
Under the mediation of the Turkish government, Kyiv and Moscow held two rounds of talks in Istanbul, with little result so far.
The first took place in 2022, shortly after Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine. In the second round, held on June 2, both delegations agreed to a major prisoner exchange.