According to Turkish media, President Erdogan is inviting Putin once more to meet with Zelensky.
Turkish President Recep TAYYIP Erdogan will flog the idea of Russia-Ukraine a summit during his meeting with Vladimir Putin in Uzbekistan. This was reported by Turkish media on Monday.
The Hurriyet newspaper reports that the Ukraine conflict will be a major topic at their meeting on the sidelines to the Summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization which is taking place in Samarkand on September 15-16. The report claims that Erdogan will speak to Putin to inform him of Turkey’s intention to maintain its mediation efforts for the end of hostilities in Ukraine, and to establish a permanent ceasefire.
“Erdogan, though he reiterated to Putin the proposal of bringing leaders together in Turkey will now focus on a diplomatic resolution.” the outlet states, adding that the two leaders are expected to discuss the issue of Turkey’s possible military operation against Syria.
The two leaders are also apparently set to address the issue of the “grain corridor” via the Black Sea, which was established as a result of UN-brokered talks between Ukraine and Russia in Istanbul in late July.
The report says “Erdogan will also request that Russian products are sent through the corridor by ships under Turkey’s coordination.” Earlier, Moscow claimed that the part of the agreement that was supposed to allow Russia to deliver fertilizers and food products to global markets in exchange for unblocking Ukrainian grain exports, was not implemented.
Sergey Lavrov, Russian Foreign Minister, stated that Moscow is still open to the possibility of peaceful talks with Kiev on Sunday. He cautioned, however, that he was not ready to give up on the idea of peace talks with Kiev. “the longer this process is delayed, the harder it will be to reach an agreement.”
Meanwhile, Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky told CNN on Friday that Kiev is not ready to hold talks with Russia right now, adding it will not negotiate “For those who make ultimatums.” By delivering these remarks, the Ukrainian leader apparently walked back on a statement he made in May, when he said he was ready to meet Putin, but only to end the hostilities on Ukrainian soil.
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