Turkey’s Foreign Minister Expected in Kyiv After Moscow Talks on Ukraine War

Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan is expected to travel to Kyiv later this week to meet Ukrainian officials and follow up on recent talks held in Istanbul, a Turkish Foreign Ministry source said Monday.

Fidan is in Moscow for a two-day visit and met Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday, May 27, along with Russia’s lead negotiator Vladimir Medinsky. He is scheduled to meet Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Tuesday.

According to the Turkish source, cited by Reuters, Putin and Fidan discussed recent efforts to end the war in Ukraine and developments since the Istanbul talks earlier this month.

Those talks, held for the first time since March 2022, resulted in an agreement to exchange 1,000 prisoners of war and to submit written terms for a potential ceasefire. However, no date or location has been set for future peace talks.

Turkey, a NATO member, has offered to host more negotiations and continues to position itself as a mediator in the conflict.

Russia said Monday the main focus of the talks would be bilateral ties, though Ukraine was also on the agenda. The Turkish source said economic and energy issues were also discussed in Moscow.

Fidan’s upcoming visit to Kyiv is seen as part of Ankara’s ongoing push to support dialogue between Russia and Ukraine. Russian sources have named Turkey, along with the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and Oman, as possible hosts for future talks.

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