Turkish Fidan warns Ukraine-Russia war approaches critical crossroads
Photo: Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan (Vitalii Nosach, RBC-Ukraine)
Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan stated that the parties are approaching a "crossroads" in the war in Ukraine. Either peace will be achieved by the end of 2025, or the war will continue, he warns at a press conference with the Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha.
"In the war, we are approaching a crossroads. On May 16, as you know, there were negotiations, and as I noted there, we face two paths. Either we close our eyes to the continuation of this war, or we achieve lasting peace by the end of this year," he said.
According to Fidan, Türkiye considers the only way to be the immediate achievement of peace and a ceasefire — a just and lasting peace — and since the beginning of the war, the Turkish president has been making great efforts.
"As a result of these efforts, he maintains constant communication with international partners. And it can be said that from time to time, we can achieve certain results. The negotiations on May 16 gave new momentum to the peace process regarding the ceasefire and ending the war. Expectations have grown. We view the Istanbul talks as a new beginning," the Turkish Foreign Minister noted.
He added that the quick implementation of the "1,000 for 1,000" prisoner exchange agreement proved that negotiations can lead to concrete results.
"We want the momentum that was in Istanbul to continue. And we believe that involving various partners, who have different capabilities and opinions, will strengthen the foundation of the negotiations," he stated.
Negotiations between Ukraine and Russia
On May 16, in Türkiye, the first meeting in several years took place between representatives of Ukraine and Russia, during which possible ways to end the war were discussed.
On the same day, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy arrived in Türkiye, expressing readiness for a personal meeting with the Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin. However, Putin ignored this initiative and refused to meet.
Following the talks, the delegations agreed to prepare written proposals regarding the conditions for a possible ceasefire. Recently, Russia proposed holding a second round of negotiations on June 2 in Istanbul.
On May 26-27, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan visited Russia. There, he met with the Russian president Vladimir Putin, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, and the head of the Russian delegation for negotiations with Ukraine, Vladimir Medinsky. It was also previously reported that Fidan would visit Ukraine on May 29–30.
