Ukraine is asking Turkey for help with Zelensky’s meeting with Putin, in order to revive the peace process and move the negotiations forward with talks at the highest level.
Ukraine asked Turkey for help in organizing a meeting between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Russian President Vladimir Putin. This was reported by Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiha, TASR writes, according to a Reuters report.
- Ukraine asked Turkey to mediate a meeting between Presidents Zelensky and Putin.
- Andrij Sybiha did not specify Ankara’s reaction and mentioned reaching out to other countries.
- Kyiv rejects the territory of Russia and Belarus as a possible summit location.
The head of Ukrainian diplomacy did not say how Ankara reacted to the proposal. He added that Ukraine has also approached other countries and is ready to consider all offers for possible meeting places except Russia and Belarus.
Ukraine rejects Belarus
Belarus is a close ally of Russia and at the beginning of the Russian army’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, it allowed the Russian army to use Belarusian territory to invade from the north.
Sybiha emphasized that Ukraine supports the meeting at such a level that “we give a new impetus to the peace process.”
Negotiations so far without a breakthrough
So far, the negotiations between the delegations of Ukraine and Russia, some of which took place in Turkey, have not brought a fundamental breakthrough. Disagreements prevail mainly over questions of future control over four Ukrainian regions, which Russia is trying to fully control.
In another statement, Sybiha said he is in written contact with Anita Orbán, who is expected to become the new foreign minister when a new government comes to power in Hungary.
