Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan may meet with Russian dictator Vladimir Putin following talks with his Ukrainian counterpart, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, on July 7, Turkish television channel A Haber has said in a report.
U.S. news agency Bloomberg previously reported that Zelenskyy would meet with Erdoğan in Istanbul to discuss the grain corridor — an agreement involving Russia that allows Ukraine to export grain from three of its Black Sea ports.
This week, Zelenskyy has already paid visits to Bulgaria and Czechia, during which he met with the countries’ leaders.
Erdoğan has attempted to act as a mediator between Kyiv and Moscow since the beginning of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
Turkey also hosted the negotiations on the export of Ukrainian grain products. However, Russia has been systematically blocking the agreement by delaying the carrying out of inspections of grain cargo ships.
Erdoğan continues to hold phone talks with Zelenskyy and Putin. The last ones took place in early 2023.
Zelenskiy, Erdogan to discuss grain deal, prisoner swaps – Turkish official
The presidents of Ukraine and Turkey will discuss on Friday the potential extension of the Black Sea grain deal and a possible prisoner exchange between Moscow and Kyiv, a senior Turkish official said ahead of the talks.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy will meet Turkish leader Tayyip Erdogan in Istanbul after visits to Bulgaria and the Czech Republic, part of a tour of some NATO capitals aimed at encouraging them to take concrete steps at a summit next week towards granting Kyiv membership of the alliance.
A key element of Zelenskiy’s talks in Istanbul will be the fate of a deal, brokered last year by Turkey and the United Nations, to allow for the safe export of grain from Ukrainian ports via the Black Sea despite the war raging across Ukraine.
The Kremlin said it would be watching the talks closely, saying Putin has highly appreciated the mediation of Erdogan in attempting to resolve the conflict in Ukraine.
“As for forthcoming contacts between Putin and Erdogan, we do not rule them out in the foreseeable future,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.
Russia, angry about aspects of the grain deal’s implementation, has threatened not to allow its further extension beyond July 17.
As well as the grain deal and a possible prisoner swap, Erdogan and Zelenskiy will discuss efforts to end the war, the senior Turkish official said.
Turkey, a NATO member, has managed to retain cordial relations with both Russia and Ukraine over the past 16 months of the war and last year it helped to broker prisoner exchanges.
Turkey has not joined its Western allies in imposing economic sanctions on Russia, but has also supplied arms to Ukraine and called for its sovereignty to be respected.
Erdogan and Zelenskiy are scheduled to hold a press conference at 1800 GMT on Friday.
The Turkish official said Erdogan might hold a phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin following his talks with Zelenskiy. A Turkish minister could also visit Moscow for further discussions, the official added.
Supporting Ukraine will always be our goal – Czech President
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy met with Czech President Petr Pavel during his working visit to Czechia.
Details: During the meeting, the two leaders focused on issues of common security and cooperation to strengthen defence. They discussed possible responses to the terrorist threats posed by Russia, including the situation at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant.
Zelenskyy and Pavel also talked through issues of cooperation between Ukraine and Czechia at all levels and joint efforts in relations with third countries, in particular in the context of the implementation of the Ukrainian peace formula.
Quote from Zelenskyy: “The Czech Republic can help engage the states of the Global South in our joint peace efforts, including the implementation of the Peace Formula. Today I informed Mr. President of the Czech Republic about how we are already engaging many partners.
We have started this work. I think it is successful. Africa, Latin America, Asia. But we need help in this direction.”
Details: During the talks, the two leaders touched upon the issue of strengthening alliances, especially NATO.
For his part, Pavel stressed the importance of supporting Ukraine now that the Ukrainian army has launched a counter-offensive and demonstrated to the world that Russia is not as strong as it has positioned itself.
Quote from Pavel: “Supporting Ukraine will always be our goal. We want Ukraine to win and all of us to win. We want to preserve the values on which our society is based.”
More details: The Czech leader expressed his belief that support for Ukraine is not only support for a country suffering from war, but first and foremost, assistance to all Europeans.
According to him, many Czech companies are already cooperating with Ukrainian firms and are eager to take part in recovering Ukraine not only after the war, but also now, during combat actions.
Pavel also stressed that Czechia was ready to support Ukraine at the NATO summit in Vilnius and contribute to financial assistance.
Quote from Pavel: “I believe that Ukraine should be supported in its aspiration to join the EU and NATO. We will do everything for this. We will try to ensure that the negotiation process is launched by the end of this year and that it is clearly stated that Europe will be with Ukraine in the future.”
