Zelenskyy meets with Erdogan in Ankara: First details
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Turkish leader Recep Tayyip Erdoğan (Getty Images)
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy met with Turkish leader Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on Thursday, May 15. The meeting is taking place in Ankara, Türkiye reports Anadolu.
Erdoğan welcomed Zelenskyy at the presidential complex in Ankara. According to Turkish media, the Ukrainian and Turkish delegations held a closed-door meeting, not open to the press.
Following the bilateral meeting between President Erdoğan and Zelenskyy, a working meeting of delegations is also scheduled.
Earlier, the Turkish presidential administration stated that during talks with Zelenskyy and other meetings, Erdoğan would call for an immediate ceasefire and the start of peace negotiations.
Zelenskyy in Türkiye
The Ukrainian president arrived in Türkiye for a meeting with Russian president Vladimir Putin. Last week, Putin ignored Ukraine and Europe's ultimatum regarding a ceasefire but proposed resuming direct negotiations based on the 2022 positions.
In response, Zelenskyy said he was ready for talks but only after a ceasefire. Later, the Ukrainian president agreed to negotiations but emphasized that he would speak only with Putin and only about a ceasefire.
The head of state announced that he would wait for Putin in Türkiye on May 15. However, the Russian leader did not come to the negotiations and instead sent low-level officials.
Ukraine, on the other hand, is represented at the highest level in the talks — the delegation includes representatives of the Presidential Office, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the military, and intelligence officials.
