Erdogan pushes to revive Russia‑Ukraine talks

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Turkey is trying to restart Russia-Ukraine negotiations and bring the two countries’ leaders together in Turkey. (reuters.com) Erdogan made the remarks in Ankara on April 22 during a meeting with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, according to the Turkish presidency. Kyiv said the same day that it had asked Turkey to host a meeting between President Volodymyr Zelenskiy and President Vladimir Putin. (reuters.com) Turkey has kept ties with both Moscow and Kyiv since Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022, selling drones to Ukraine while avoiding Western sanctions on Russia. Ankara has repeatedly offered to mediate and to host talks. (reuters.com) This is not Turkey’s first attempt. Turkish officials hosted Russian and Ukrainian negotiators in Antalya and Istanbul in March 2022, when the two sides held their most substantial direct talks of the war. (cbsnews.com) Turkey and the United Nations also brokered the Black Sea Grain Initiative in July 2022, which created a protected shipping channel for Ukrainian food exports before Russia quit the deal in July 2023. The United Nations said the arrangement was meant to ease pressure on global food prices and supply. (un.org) Erdogan tied the diplomatic push to a broader security calendar as Turkey prepares to host the next NATO summit in Ankara on July 7 and 8, 2026. NATO announced the summit dates in August 2025. (nato.int) Rutte’s visit came as NATO allies are weighing long-term support for Ukraine while the war remains deadlocked on the battlefield and diplomacy has produced no settlement. Erdogan told Rutte that a ceasefire and negotiations should be pursued together, according to the Turkish readout of the meeting. (reuters.com) For Ankara, the pitch is familiar: use Turkey’s access to both capitals to get a leaders’ meeting that others have not been able to arrange. Whether Moscow and Kyiv accept is the unanswered question Erdogan has been trying to solve since 2022. (reuters.com)