The Turkish leader suggested that representatives of the United Nations could also participate in negotiations.
Turkey is ready to host a new round of negotiations between Kiev and Moscow in Istanbul, the country’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Monday. In a telephone call, he made this offer to Vladimir Putin.
“President Erdogan stated Turkey’s readiness, if agreed upon in principle by both parties, to meet with Russia, Ukraine and the United Nations in Istanbul, and to assume a role in a possible observation mechanism,” the presidency’s directorate of communications said in a statement.
Erdogan noted “the need for steps that would minimize the negative effects of the war and build trust by restoring as soon as possible the ground for peace between Russia and Ukraine,”They added it.
Moscow did not comment on the Turkish proposal. The Kremlin’s readout of talks didn’t mention it. The press release stated that the Ukraine portion of the Putin-Erdogan telephone call was largely about safety in seafaring in Azov and Black seas as well as the demining.
“Vladimir Putin underlined the readiness of the Russian side to facilitate the unhindered maritime transit of goods in coordination with Turkish partners. This also applies to the export of grain from Ukrainian ports,”It was.
Turkey took an explicit neutral position in hostilities that broke out between Russia and Ukraine in February. Ankara continues to maintain ties with the two sides. It has abstained from participating in Western sanctions against Moscow, and is striving for mediation.
Turkey hosted Russia-Ukraine high-profile talks in late March. Both sides indicated that there would be progress, but the negotiations failed to produce any significant breakthroughs. In the months since, negotiations have stagnated with Moscow and Kiev trading accusations for the inability to make progress.
Russia attacked the neighboring state following Ukraine’s failure to implement the terms of the Minsk agreements, first signed in 2014, and Moscow’s eventual recognition of the Donbass republics of Donetsk and Lugansk. French- and German-brokered protocols were intended to provide special status for the Ukrainian states that break away from the state.
In recent years, the Kremlin demands that Ukraine declares itself neutral in order to be able to join NATO. Kiev claims that the Russian invasion was unprovoked. It also denies any plans to take the republics with force.
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