Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy arrived in Ankara, Turkey, late yesterday for an official visit aimed at strengthening ties with Turkey in the midst of negotiations launched by Trump with Russia without the participation of Ukraine or Europe.
The plane carrying Zelenskyy and his delegation landed yesterday at 21:08 at Ankara’s Esenboğa International Airport, where it was met by various authorities. After spending the night in the Turkish capital, the Ukrainian president was received at midday today at the presidential palace in Ankara, where he began a meeting with his Turkish counterpart Tayyip Erdoğan at 2:15 pm (12:15 pm CET), according to CNN Türk.
The talks between Zelenskyy and Erdoğan are expected to focus on increasing cooperation in the defence industry and strengthening the ‘strategic partnership between Turkey and Ukraine’, according to a statement from the Turkish presidency. But regional and global issues will also be addressed, including the situation of the war in Ukraine and efforts to end the conflict.
Zelenskyy’s visit is part of a tour that will take him to Turkey, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia, where today delegations from the United States and Russia are meeting to establish a roadmap for negotiations aimed at ending the war in Ukraine, but to which Donald Trump has not invited either the European Union or Ukraine, unleashing all kinds of speculation and fears about the agreements that may come out of the meeting in Riyadh. Although Zelenskyy plans to travel to Saudi Arabia after his stay in Ankara, he has already made it clear that he has no plans to meet with Russian or US delegates.
‘Turkey and Europe should be at the negotiating table with Russia’
Turkey, which has good relations with both Kiev and Moscow, has maintained a neutral stance during the conflict in Ukraine that has allowed it to play a key mediating role in reaching several agreements, including the exchange of prisoners and the implementation of the so-called ‘grain deal’, which prevented a serious global famine at the beginning of the war.
Ankara, which defends the territorial integrity of Ukraine including Crimea, is in favour of a fair and negotiated solution to the conflict and has offered on several occasions to broker a peace agreement. In a televised interview at the weekend, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan underlined that Turkey and the EU should be part of the negotiations between the US and Russia.
VOTE
EDITORIAL TEAM
🧿 About us
.
Edited and reviewed by:
Pablo Gómez is a specialist in Turkey and has been editor-in-chief of Hispanatolia since 2011. He has been analysing current affairs and geopolitics in Turkey and the surrounding region since 2006.
…
📣 Your ADVERTISING on Hispanatolia
.
🤗 HELP US WITH A DONATION:
💗 Paypal
