Turkey is offering to host the next round of peace negotiations between Russia and Ukraine. “We consider securing global peace our duty,” Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said.
Fidan, who is currently visiting Moscow at the invitation of Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov, met with Russia’s chief negotiator Vladimir Medinsky on Monday, and also talked with President Putin to discuss bilateral relations.
Turkey’s offer came after Russia expressed qualms about the Vatican as a host. Lavrov pointed out that the center of the Catholic world wouldn’t be a neutral venue for negotiations between the two Orthodox Christian nations, and said his personal preference was that the talks be held in Istanbul. He said that, while Turkey and the U.S. support the peace process, Russia sees “European attempts to undermine the negotiation process.”
Ukraine and Russia resumed direct talks earlier this month, with the first round of negotiations taking place in Istanbul on May 16th. While there were complaints from the Ukrainian side that President Putin did not personally attend, the talks still resulted in the largest prisoner exchange since the start of the war.
