Russian President Vladimir Putin at a meeting with his Turkish counterpart allowed for the possibility of Russia returning to talks with Ukraine. Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said this on Monday at a press conference in Tokyo.
"Our president always says during talks with Putin that [Ukrainian President Vladimir] Zelensky is ready for negotiations and Turkey is ready to organize their meeting. During talks with our president in Samarkand, Putin said that Russia admits the possibility of returning to negotiations with Ukraine," Cavusoglu said.
Moscow has always expressed its willingness to negotiate with Kiev, but according to Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov, no negotiation prospects with Ukraine are visible at the moment. Speaking about the demand for Erdogan's proposal to organize negotiations between the presidents of Russia and Ukraine, Peskov stressed that "there are no prerequisites for this now."
The foreign minister of the republic also said that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan intends to continue contacts with Russian and Ukrainian Presidents Vladimir Putin and Vladimir Zelensky.
"We continue to pursue a balanced policy. Our president will continue to maintain a dialogue with both Putin and Zelensky. It is worth noting that there are countries in the West that wish to continue fighting in Ukraine in order to weaken Russia," Cavusoglu stated.
In addition, he said that the conflict in Ukraine should be ended with the establishment of a just peace, "first of all for Kiev."
"The war in Ukraine must end with the establishment of a just peace. And first and foremost a just peace for Ukraine. As I said before, Turkey considers these territories occupied. But we do not lose hope for a diplomatic settlement," Cavusoglu stressed.
GSV "Russia - Islamic world"
Photo: Russian Foreign Ministry
Based on materials from TASS