Erdoğan says Putin and Zelenskyy not ready to meet yet
Photo: Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan (Getty Images)
The anticipated meeting between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Vladimir Putin will not take place for now, Reuters reports.
In particular, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said he discussed ways to end the war in Ukraine with Putin during talks in China and with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy by phone. However, according to him, they are “not yet ready” for a meeting.
The Turkish leader told reporters about this onboard his plane after returning from China. There, he met with Putin and later called Zelenskyy.
Potential for peace
According to the Turkish President, talks between Russian and Ukrainian representatives that have taken place in Istanbul in recent months show that the path to peace remains open.
Erdoğan emphasized that Türkiye advocates for a “raising the level of negotiations gradually” to turn hopes for peace into concrete results.
Turkish President added that any initiative must ultimately be resolved at the level of the leaders. However, he noted that the conditions for such a meeting are not present at this time.
Speculation about a potential Zelenskyy-Putin meeting intensified after Putin’s visit to Alaska. US President Donald Trump had mentioned the possibility of both a bilateral and a trilateral meeting. However, Putin’s aide Yuri Ushakov said the subject was not discussed in Alaska.
From the start of the war, Erdoğan has repeatedly invited Putin to Türkiye. However, the Russian war criminal wanted by the International Criminal Court (ICC) refuses to come.
