Türkiye ideal venue for Russia-Ukraine peace talks: Erdoğan

ANKARA

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky reiterated their willingness to work together toward ending the war between Russia and Ukraine through a fair and lasting agreement on the same day Washington and Moscow held their first meeting since the Trump administration took office last month.

“Given Türkiye’s active diplomatic activities in the past three years, it will be the ideal location for hosting the negotiations that will take place in the coming period,” Erdoğan said at a press conference with Zelensky.

Erdoğan and Zelensky held bilateral talks and then chaired their delegations after the latter inaugurated Ukraine’s new embassy compound in Ankara and visited Atatürk’s mausoleum. Zelensky, who planned to visit Saudi Arabia after Türkiye, has changed his plans after what he called “surprising Russian-American” talks in Riyadh.

Erdoğan recalled that the war between Russia and Ukraine will soon enter its fourth year and it is time to end the armed conflict through negotiations.

“Türkiye’s approach overlaps with [U.S. President Donald] Trump’s recent calls for a quick and negotiated agreement to end the war,” Erdoğan underlined, recalling that the only country that brought the two warring sides together was Türkiye in the first months of the war.

" Russia-Ukraine war, which has caused many 'innocent deaths' and enormous destruction, 'must end now.' Peace has no losers, whole world is now waiting for peace in war between Russia, Ukraine." Erdoğan added.

“As Türkiye, we have become the credible mediator for both sides and got concrete results,” he said.

Erdoğan stated that Türkiye continues to support Ukraine’s territorial integrity and political unity and provide contribution to the peace effort.

Ukraine grateful to Türkiye

For his part Zelensky underscored the role Türkiye has been playing since the war started in 2022.

“We are grateful that we have received the necessary understanding and support from Türkiye at this difficult time of the war. Türkiye has always been highly principled on the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Ukraine. This is critically important for us,” Zelensky stated.

“In addition to the U.S., Ukraine and Europe, including Türkiye and the U.K., should be included in the [peace] talks,” the Ukrainian president stressed, adding “For this war to end in a credible and lasting peace, we must make no mistakes. This is only possible if the negotiations are fair.”

On a question, Zelensky said they want peace but no platform that lacks Ukraine will be irrelevant. “The meeting between Russia and the U.S. in Riyadh was a surprise to us. We learned it from the media,” he suggested.

We want peace: Zelensky

In his address to the media during the opening ceremony of the new embassy building, the Ukrainian president underscored the importance of territorial integrity and sovereignty of his country.

“As a country, we want peace; we want the war to end. However, we want the end of this war to be based on certain security guarantees. We expect these security guarantees to be provided by the U.S., the EU, Türkiye and all of Europe," Zelensky said,

“If Türkiye can provide Ukraine with the necessary security guarantees, we would like to see Türkiye involved in this process as well,” he said.

He stressed that Ukraine will never compromise on its territorial integrity or sovereignty, asserting that he cannot act against the Ukrainian Constitution. “We will never, under any circumstances, recognize our temporarily occupied territories as part of Russia. They are part of Ukraine,” he declared.

New embassy compound opened

The Ukrainian president described the inauguration of the new embassy building as “highly symbolic,” noting the presence of representatives from Ukraine and the diaspora of Crimean Tatars, a group whose oppression since Russia's 2014 takeover of Crimea has been decried by Türkiye.

He emphasized that the project had his full support from its inception and praised the contributions of Andrii Sybiha, Ukraine’s foreign minister and a former ambassador to Ankara as well as Vasyl Bodnar, former Ukraine envoy to Ankara who has been appointed to Warsaw.

As part of Ukraine’s diplomatic efforts, Zelensky also announced the appointment of Neriman Celal as Ukraine’s new ambassador to Ankara.

Türkiye, Ukraine bilateral ties

Türkiye will continue to work for the implementation of an arrangement aimed at the safety of commercial navigation in the Black Sea, Erdoğan said, adding: "We believe that such an arrangement in the Black Sea will serve as an important confidence-building measure in the process leading to negotiations."

On bilateral relations, he said: "The topics within the scope of our strategic partnership relations with Ukraine occupied an important place in our agenda with Zelensky. We discussed the steps we can take in the coming period to further strengthen our trade relations."

Erdoğan said that despite the difficulties due to the war, "we want to take firm steps towards the target of $10 billion in our bilateral trade."

He said he told Zelensky about the willingness of Turkish companies to support Ukraine in its post-war reconstruction. “I sincerely believe that with the establishment of peace in Ukraine, our relations will reach even higher levels in the coming period at a level worthy of our strategic partnership," Erdoğan added.

"I would like to express my appreciation for the courageous steps taken by my dear friend Zelensky regarding the rights of our Crimean Tatar compatriots, who are especially struggling for the territorial integrity of Ukraine, and I hope that additional steps will come," he said.