Ukrainian President Zelensky will hold talks with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Istanbul on Friday over the war with Russia and Black Sea navigation.
The two leaders are scheduled to meet and hold a news conference at Istanbul’s Dolmabahce Palace on Friday evening, according to plans announced by the Turkish president.
Zelensky’s office said the two would discuss Kiev’s proposals to end the conflict, as well as “safety of navigation in the Black Sea, global food stability and the release of Ukrainian prisoners and political prisoners held by the Russian government.”
NATO member Turkey has sought to maintain good relations with Moscow and Kiev during the two-year war, with Erdogan positioning himself as a key intermediary and possible peacemaker.
Turkish diplomatic sources told AFP on Friday that Ankara “will once again stress that we will continue to firmly support Ukraine’s territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence, including Crimea.”
“Conversation Time”
Turkey also hosted ceasefire talks between Kiev and Moscow in the first weeks of the war, but they failed.
It hopes to resume those talks at some point in the future.
“Both sides have now reached the limit of what they can achieve through war,” Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said in early March.
“We believe now is the time to start ceasefire talks.”
Turkey’s strategic location on the Black Sea and its control of the Bosporus give it a unique military, political and economic role in the conflict.
In July 2022, Ankara brokered the Black Sea Grains Agreement, the most important diplomatic agreement between Kiev and Moscow to date.
A year later, Moscow abandoned the initiative to allow Ukrainian agricultural exports to safely cross the mine-riddled Black Sea, complaining that the terms were unfair.
Kiev has since launched an alternative export route for ships along the coastline, avoiding disputed international waters.
Turkey has been lobbying hard for a deal to ensure cargo can once again sail safely through these waters.
After a visit to Turkey last year, Zelensky returned to Kiev with five senior commanders of the Azov regiment, who were supposed to stay in Turkey until the conflict was over under a prisoner exchange agreement with Moscow.
The Ukrainian leader will also visit a shipyard where frigates are being built for its navy and meet with Turkish defense companies on Friday. Zelensky’s office said.
russian relations
Türkiye’s Western allies have expressed concerns about its close ties with Moscow.
Ankara relies on Russian energy and faces scrutiny for its role in helping Russia circumvent Western trade restrictions.
The United States has sanctioned several Turkish companies for helping Moscow purchase goods that could be used by its armed forces.
The meeting between Zelensky and Erdogan comes a week after Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov met his Turkish counterpart Fedan at a diplomatic forum in Antalya.
Russian President Vladimir Putin was scheduled to visit Turkey last month, but Moscow postponed the visit, Turkish and Russian media reported, citing diplomatic sources.
The Kremlin said it was working to reschedule the visit but gave no specific date.
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