Erdogan offers Zelensky opportunity to organise meeting with Putin
IRYNA BALACHUK — FRIDAY,19 AUGUST 2022, 1:04 p.m.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said that during the negotiations in Lviv, he offered Turkey as a host location for a meeting between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Source: RIA Novosti, a Kremlin-aligned Russian news agency, referencing Erdogan's comments to journalists on the plane after returning from Lviv
Quote from Erdoğan: "Mr Zelenskyy and I discussed all aspects of our bilateral relations. I reiterated our support for Ukraine’s territorial integrity and sovereignty. Just as I told Mr Putin during my visit to Sochi. I reminded Mr Zelenskyy that we can host a meeting between them."
Details: The Turkish President said that he would like to discuss the situation at the Zaporizhia Nuclear Power Plant with Putin and to ask him to take concrete actions.
Erdoğan also said that during the tripartite meeting with Zelenskyy and UN Secretary-General António Guterres, steps to facilitate the export of Ukrainian grain had been discussed.
Background:
- On 18 August, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and UN Secretary-General António Guterres met in Lviv.
- After this meeting, Zelenskyy said that Ukraine would only negotiate with Russia if all Russian troops withdrew from the territories of Ukraine they had illegally occupied.
- Erdoğan emphasised the need to reach a diplomatic settlement between Ukraine and Russia; according to him, the way to achieve this would be to return to negotiations based on the points formulated at the March meeting in Istanbul.
- Mykhailo Podoliak, Ukrainian presidential advisor, believes that negotiations with Putin’s Russia are a dangerous game that will not lead to the end of the war.
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