Türkiye to take part in new Ukraine peace talks: Zelensky

KIEV

Türkiye will take part in peace talks this week to discuss ways to end the Ukraine conflict, President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Oct. 21, after speaking with Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.

The Mediterranean island of Malta announced on Oct. 20 it would host a round of Ukraine peace talks on Oct. 28-29, after similar meetings in Jeddah and Copenhagen earlier this year.

"We discussed the next round of the Peace Formula talks in Malta," Zelensky said after a call with Erdoğan.

"Türkiye will participate, adding its authoritative voice and stance," Zelensky said.

Russia is not expected to take part in the talks, which Zelensky hopes will rally support for his own peace plan.

Similar talks were held in Copenhagen in June and in the Saudi city of Jeddah in August.
Representatives from around 40 countries including China, India, the United States and Ukraine took part in the Saudi summit, which did not result in a final declaration.

Both Russia and Ukraine are preparing for a grueling winter ahead, with Ukraine warning of renewed strikes on its energy infrastructure and Russia trying to suppress a Ukrainian counteroffensive.

Türkiye has offered itself as a mediator between the two warring parties, helping to broker a deal in July last year that allowed safe grain exports via the Black Sea.

Türkiye has since been in talks with both sides about reviving the deal, which collapsed after Russia pulled out less than a year later.

Meanwhile, Russian missile strikes killed at least six postal workers and wounded 16 others on Oct. 21, when they hit a mail depot in Ukraine's northeastern Kharkiv region, officials said.

President Volodymyr Zelensky shared a video on social media of what appeared to be a heavily damaged warehouse surrounded by rubble and a container with the logo of Ukrainian postal operator Nova Poshta.

"All six dead and 14 injured as a result of the occupiers' attack were employees of the company who were inside the Nova Poshta terminal," Kharkiv regional governor Oleg Sinegubov said.

"The victims, aged between 19 and 42, received shrapnel wounds and blast injuries."

Of the injured being treated in hospital, seven were in a serious condition, according to Sinegubov.

"Doctors are fighting for their lives," he added.

The Ministry of Internal Affairs confirmed the death toll but updated the number of injured to 16.

Sergiy Nozhka, who works for Nova Poshta, described the condition of some his colleagues as "mild to moderate severity," adding "there are some people in a very serious condition."

He added that a rocket "flew into the neighbouring depot, but at ours too, the windows and shutters flew out. This is not the first time."

According to the regional prosecutor's office, Russian forces in the Belgorod region north of Kharkiv fired S-300 missiles, two of which hit the warehouse.

"Debris analysis continues at the site in order to establish the exact number of injured and dead," office spokesman Dmytro Chubenko told Suspilne, Ukraine's state broadcaster.