Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan will renew Ankara’s offer to host talks between Russia and Ukraine during a visit to Moscow this week, where he is also expected to discuss Black Sea shipping safety and developments in the South Caucasus, a Turkish diplomatic source said Monday, according to Reuters.
Fidan’s visit, scheduled for Tuesday and Wednesday, comes ahead of a NATO summit Turkey will host on July 7-8 and after Kyiv in April asked Ankara to mediate by hosting a leaders-level meeting. Turkey has maintained relations with both Moscow and Kyiv since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
The Turkish source said Fidan would meet with his Russian counterpart, Sergei Lavrov, and later with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Fidan is expected to warn against further escalation in the Black Sea and reiterate Turkey’s proposal for a limited ceasefire covering ports and energy infrastructure, the source said.
In recent months, Russia and Ukraine have accused each other of drone attacks on tankers near Turkey’s northern coast.
A Ukrainian official said Kyiv would welcome a Turkish offer to host bilateral talks, something Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has proposed several times.
Kyiv’s ambassador to Turkey told Reuters last month that Ukraine wanted deeper ties with Turkey, including joint defense industry production.
Fidan is also expected to discuss developments in the South Caucasus after Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan won elections this month and as Yerevan works with Azerbaijan on a peace deal that could accelerate Turkey’s process of normalization with Armenia.