Ukraine’s president says he will meet Turkey’s Erdogan to discuss reactivating peace talks and achieving a “just peace” with Russia.
KYIV/ANKARA: President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said he planned to go to Turkey on Wednesday in an attempt to revive talks with Russia on how to end the war in Ukraine.
“We are preparing to reinvigorate negotiations, and we have developed solutions that we will propose to our partners. Doing everything possible to bring the end of the war closer is Ukraine’s top priority,” Zelenskiy, who was visiting Spain on Tuesday, said about the meetings in Turkey.
No face-to-face talks have taken place between Kyiv and Moscow since they met in Istanbul in July.
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Earlier on Tuesday, a Turkish source said that U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff would also visit Turkey on Wednesday and join the planned talks there with Zelenskiy. But a separate Turkish foreign ministry source said Erdogan would meet only Zelenskiy in Ankara and not Witkoff.
Burhanettin Duran, head of the Turkish presidency’s communications directorate, said in a post on X that Erdogan will discuss efforts to establish a ceasefire and achieve a lasting solution regarding the Russia-Ukraine war during his talks with Zelenskiy in Ankara.
Ukraine and Russia have held several rounds of talks in Istanbul that led to the exchange of thousands of prisoners of war and the remains of dead soldiers.
But the two sides have made no breakthrough towards a ceasefire or a settlement to end the war that is approaching its four year mark.
Zelenskiy on Tuesday also said he planned to discuss with Erdogan on Wednesday how to bring a “just peace” to Ukraine. – Reuters
