Russia’s upper house speaker to visit Türkiye for talks
ANKARA
The speaker of Russia's upper legislative house, Valentina Matviyenko, will visit Türkiye on Thursday as the official guest of Turkish Parliament Speaker Numan Kurtulmuş.
After holding a bilateral meeting at the Turkish parliament in Ankara, Kurtulmuş and Matviyenko will chair inter-delegation talks and hold a press conference.
During his visit to Russia on Sept. 24, Kurtulmuş addressed the opening session of the Federation Council’s new legislative period. He highlighted that Türkiye believes in taking initiatives on every platform for a peaceful resolution to the Ukraine war.
He said President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan was working closely with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin for peace.
On Feb. 24, Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan declared Türkiye's willingness to host peace talks between Ukraine and Russia.
"We are ready to provide all kinds of support for the establishment of peace through talks. We are ready to host the talks as we did before," Fidan said at a joint press conference in Ankara with his Russian counterpart, Sergey Lavrov.
Lavrov emphasized the continuity of Türkiye-Russia relations "despite geopolitical tensions."
On Feb. 24, Erdoğan also reaffirmed Türkiye's commitment to pursuing a just and lasting peace in Ukraine.
"The path to a just and lasting peace can only be opened with an equation in which both sides of the war are represented equally and fairly," Erdoğan said in a video address.
Erdoğan recently hosted Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Ankara on Feb. 18, where both leaders reaffirmed their commitment to resolving the conflict through dialogue.
“As Türkiye, we have become the credible mediator for both sides and got concrete results," Erdoğan emphasized.
