Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that he will hold a phone call with his Russian and Ukrainian counterparts Vladimir Putin and Vladimir Zelensky on May 30.
On Monday, I will have phone conversations with the presidents of both Russia and Ukraine. “We will continue to encourage the parties to use the channels of dialogue and diplomacy,” he said.
Information on the talks between Putin and Erdogan was confirmed in the Kremlin. “Yes. there are plans [разговор с Эрдоганом]Putin’s spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, said.
At the same time, Peskov announced that the negotiations will be held in a bilateral format, the participation of the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky is not planned.
Erdogan stressed that Ankara “imagined that this war between Russia and Ukraine would end peacefully as soon as possible, but things seem to be developing more negatively with each passing day” (according to TASS).
Previous telephone conversations between the Turkish and Russian presidents took place in late April. They discussed the humanitarian situation in Ukraine and Donbass, as well as the situation in Mariupol: in particular, the evacuation of civilians from the city. The parties also agreed to further contact on this issue.
At the same time, Erdogan continued negotiations with Zelensky and discussed, among other things, Ukraine’s participation in the negotiation process.
The Turkish leader had previously expressed his readiness to mediate negotiations between Moscow and Kyiv for a peaceful resolution of the conflict in Ukraine. At the end of March, the delegations of the two countries met in Istanbul.
As a result, the Russian side announced that it has reduced military activities in the Kyiv and Chernigov directions. In addition, Moscow announced that it is ready to hold a meeting between Putin and Zelensky. But also provided that a peace treaty is signed by the heads of the Foreign Ministries of the Russian Federation and Ukraine.
Ankara itself hopes that sooner or later this meeting will take place. At the end of April, Erdogan – before calling Zelensky and Putin – said that the summit could be held in Istanbul.
“There is movement. However, they are far from desirable. We hope for progress. We do not lose hope,” he said.
Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu noted that a personal meeting between the presidents of Russia and Ukraine is imminent, but the decision to coordinate it is up to Putin.
The Kremlin stressed that the Russian president is not against meeting with Zelensky, but emphasized that there is a need for progress in the negotiation process and in the preparation of a document on the peaceful resolution of the situation in Ukraine.
In mid-May, spokesman for the Turkish presidency, Ibrahim Kalyn, said that Zelensky “thanks Turkey for its constructive and balanced stance and for Turkey’s support to Ukraine, and stressed that they have full confidence in Turkey.”
According to an Ankara spokesperson, Zelensky also confirmed that he is ready to meet with Putin through Erdogan’s mediation.
But later the Ukrainian president said that if he meets with his Russian counterpart, it will happen when the borders of Ukraine return to the state of February 23.
According to Çavuşoğlu, “Erdogan’s sole aim is to stop the war and bring the two leaders together”, so the Turkish president will continue negotiations with both sides.
Source: Gazeta
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