Turkish Foreign Ministers Hakan Fidan and Ukrainian Andriy Sybiha discussed efforts to achieve a ceasefire and lasting peace between Russia and Ukraine, as well as President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's planned visit to Ankara during a meeting on Wednesday, a source in the Turkish Foreign Ministry said, UNN reports with reference to The Guardian.
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Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan and Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiha reportedly met ahead of an informal meeting of NATO foreign ministers in the southern Turkish province of Antalya.
The source said that Fidan confirmed Turkey's readiness to hold any peace talks between Ukraine and Russia, without going into details.
Sybiha himself said in X that during our meeting he thanked Fidan for inviting me to Turkey and informed him about the latest developments on the battlefield and on the diplomatic front.
"The epicenter of world diplomacy is now in Turkey, which plays an active mediating role. We are grateful for this. I reaffirmed Ukraine's commitment to peace, our immediate and unconditional readiness for a complete and lasting ceasefire, as well as our proposal for a direct meeting at the highest level between Ukraine and Russia. putin must stop rejecting a ceasefire and avoid meeting with President Zelenskyy. We had a thorough conversation about ways to advance a meaningful peace process. I am grateful to my colleague for his support and valuable advice," the head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine said.
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The head of the Kremlin, volodymyr putin, has not yet agreed to personally participate in the negotiations in Turkey, scheduled for Thursday, despite the fact that he himself proposed it. President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy stated that he would not negotiate with any representative of Russia other than putin himself.
US President Donald Trump continued to express interest in traveling to Turkey for a possible high-stakes meeting between Zelenskyy and putin, saying on Wednesday that putin "would like me to be there" and that it remains a "possibility".