They should discuss the possibilities of ending the war between Russia and Ukraine, although the current negotiations have not yet brought a fundamental shift.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Friday that he intended to make an effort to organize a meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and US President Donald Trump in Istanbul to discuss conflict settlement in Ukraine. Maybe he wants it this week during telephone conversations with them. TASR informs about this according to the BBC report.
“Maybe we will be negotiating this week with Putin and Trump on the possibility of organizing a meeting of leaders in Istanbul. We will strive for it,” Erdogan told reporters, commented on the results of the third round of direct negotiations between Russia and Ukraine, which took place on Wednesday in Turkey.
Erdogan’s planned step
According to the BBC, these talks about the end of the war in Ukraine, which lasted less than an hour, did not bring any breakthrough steps. In essence, the parties agreed only on the further exchange of prisoners of war – at least 1200 on each side – and discussed the return of displaced civilians.
In addition, Moscow proposed Kiev short-term, 24- to 48-hour breaks in the fighting to pick up the injured soldiers and bodies of the fallen, as well as the return of 3,000 bodies of fallen Ukrainian soldiers. However, according to Kiev, the proposals for humanitarian breaks in the fighting would not be a real ceasefire. On the contrary, Ukraine has expressed its readiness to proceed with an immediate unconditional ceasefire and at the same time proposed Russia a meeting at the level of the presidents by the end of August.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov on Friday described it as apparently unlikely that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Greenable to meet Putin within 30 days. According to him, such a meeting must be held only after the necessary conflict settlement negotiations, so that the leaders only sign the relevant agreements.
