Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced that he will visit Turkey tomorrow, Wednesday, with the aim of “reinvigorate” peace talks with Moscow and restoring prisoner-of-war exchanges with Russia.
In a post on social networking site X (formerly Twitter) that coincided with his visit to Spain to meet with Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez – carried out a day after signing a deal in France for the purchase of up to 100 fighter jets and other military equipment, including drones – Zelenskyy gave details of the aims of his trip to Türkiye, Turkish media reported.
“Tomorrow, I will hold meetings in Turkey. We are preparing to reinvigorate negotiations and have developed solutions that we will propose to our partners. Doing everything possible to bring the end of the war closer is Ukraine’s top priority. We are also working to restore POW exchanges and bring our prisoners of war home,” the Ukrainian leader said on social media.
Last week, Ukraine had already anticipated that prisoner exchanges with Russia could resume, with the mediation of Turkey and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Earlier, both Zelenskyy and the head of its Security Council had expressed hope that some 1,200 Ukrainians would be released.
Negotiations stalled amid Russian offensive
Since the May-July round of direct talks between the Russian and Ukrainian delegations in Istanbul, the only tangible results have been prisoner exchanges and the repatriation of the bodies of fallen soldiers. The last exchange took place in early October, when Moscow and Kiev exchanged 185 prisoners each.
So far there has been no immediate Russian reaction to Zelenskyy’s statements. Negotiations to end the conflict, however, have stalled mainly because of Moscow’s rejection of a ceasefire: in fact, Russia has intensified its offensives on the front line, and Russian attacks on critical infrastructure and Ukrainian cities have intensified.
Last week, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Russia was “open to negotiation processes” to resolve the war in Ukraine, but again blamed Zelenskyy and Europe for the current stalemate in the peace process. For its part, Ukraine argues that Russia has repeatedly demonstrated that it has no intention of stopping its invasion by making unacceptable demands during negotiations that require Kiev not only to cede more territory, but a de facto capitulation to Moscow.
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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.
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