Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan phoned his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin. He proposed a meeting between three delegations: Russia, Ukraine and the UN.
The Turkish leader proposed Istanbul as a platform for negotiations. Turkey is ready to be an observer of this process “if both sides agree in principle”. The President of Turkey made a similar proposal at the end of April.
Erdogan added that peace should be established between Russia and Ukraine as soon as possible.
“Measures should also be taken to eliminate the negative consequences of the war and build confidence,” Erdogan’s office said in a statement. According to him, this can be achieved “with the rapid restoration of the lands of peace between Russia and Ukraine”.
The President of Turkey also shared the situation in Syria with his colleague. According to him, “The terrorist organization PKK/YPG’s attacks continue there. [Рабочая партия Курдистана, которую Анкара считает террористами] Against Turkish and Syrian civilians.
The Kremlin press service reported that the parties also touched upon the issues of navigational safety in the Black Sea and Azov Seas and demining in the water areas.
Putin said Moscow is ready to assist Ankara in ensuring the safe passage of goods through the Black Sea – “this also applies to grain exports from Ukrainian ports.”
Also, Russia is not opposed to exporting substantial amounts of fertilizers and agricultural products if sanctions are lifted. “In the context of further strengthening mutually beneficial ties, including in the fields of energy, transport and tourism, the leaders agreed on further contacts,” the Kremlin said.
Erdogan had announced his intention to hold a bilateral telephone conversation with the presidents of Russia and Ukraine the previous day. He emphasized that Ankara wants to end the conflict situation in Ukraine as soon as possible, but the situation is getting worse day by day.
In an interview with the French television channel TF1, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov emphasized that Moscow “does not impose it on anyone”, but does not deny contacts.
“If someone wants to contact us, Russian President Vladimir Putin never refuses colleagues who request a phone call or a personal meeting. This is well known by everyone,” Lavrov said, noting that he did the same.
The Ukrainian president is also ready to consider the offer of a Kyiv-Ankara-Moscow phone call if Putin agrees to attend.
“If the Russian President approves, we will consider such a proposal,” Sergei Nikiforov, spokesman for Volodymyr Zelensky, told Strana.ua.
Previous telephone conversations between Erdogan and the presidents of Russia and Ukraine took place in late April. The Turkish leader discussed with Putin the aggravated situation in Mariupol at that time, as well as the humanitarian situation in Ukraine and Donbass. At the same time, Erdogan continued negotiations with Zelensky and discussed, among other things, Ukraine’s participation in the negotiation process.
The Turkish President had previously proposed Istanbul as a negotiation platform. At the end of March, Moscow and Kyiv took advantage of this offer. Then a meeting took place between the delegations of Russia and Ukraine.
The head of the Russian representatives, Vladimir Medinsky, stated that they were constructive after the talks, and Ukraine offered Russia its clearly formulated position.
David Arakhamia, head of the Ukrainian delegation at the talks, said after the meeting that a peace agreement with Moscow is possible if Russia completely withdraws its troops from February 23.
“Then we will sit down to sign, ratify or initial. This is an international insurance, not only our demands or demands, but the fulfillment of the necessary conditions for the signing of this document,” he said.
Arakhamia noted that in Istanbul, the parties agreed not to discuss the Donbass issue and that it was left “out of the box until the leaders’ meeting”. Also, the issue of lifting anti-Russian sanctions was not considered: “We did not impose them, so it is not for us to remove them.”
The dialogue continued online, but not for long. Bilateral contacts have been frozen so far. Moscow claims that the initiator of this was Kyiv. In mid-May, the Russian Foreign Ministry emphasized that Ukraine “practically withdraws from the negotiation process”.
Source: Gazeta
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