Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky will visit Turkey on Saturday, where he will meet his Turkish counterpart, Recep Tayyip Erdogan. The talks will focus on the war with Russia and security in the Black Sea, the Turkish Presidency announced on Friday.
“The discussions in Istanbul will concentrate on measures to further deepen bilateral cooperation between Turkey and Ukraine, as well as on regional and international developments, particularly the Russia-Ukraine conflict and the security situation in the Black Sea,” Burhanettin Duran, Communications Director of the Turkish Presidency, stated on the social network X.
During a phone call with US President Donald Trump on Wednesday, Erdogan said Turkey is ready to support efforts to resume talks between Ukraine and Russia, with the aim of ending the war through negotiations.
Turkey, concerned by attacks in the Black Sea, had presented Kyiv and Moscow with a memorandum of understanding to end attacks on commercial ships, a Turkish diplomatic source told AFP in September.
The proposal was based on the grain export agreement reached in July 2022 between Moscow and Kyiv, under the mediation of Turkey and the United Nations, which lasted only one year.