Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan on Monday referred to as on Russia and Ukraine to urgently start negotiating a cease-fire forward of peace talks scheduled to happen in Istanbul later this week.
“We invite the parties to come together as soon as possible and start the cease-fire,” he instructed a joint press convention in Ankara together with his Syrian and Jordanian counterparts.
“Right now there is an issue that needs to be reconciled: the Ukrainians want a cease-fire first, then talks, and the Russians want talks first then a cease-fire, so the situation has come to a deadlock,” he stated, expressing confidence that the events would “come together for a compromise in the coming days.”
At the weekend, Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and the leaders of France, Britain, Germany and Poland urged Russia to just accept a 30-day unconditional cease-fire beginning Monday as a precondition for direct talks.
But Russia didn’t reply, with President Vladimir Putin as an alternative proposing the perimeters meet for direct talks in Istanbul on May 15, in a transfer that received the approval of U.S. President Donald Trump.
Late Sunday, Zelenskyy stated he could be keen to “personally” meet Putin in Türkiye however didn’t say whether or not he would nonetheless attend if the Russian chief rejected the 30-day cease-fire.
The two sides had held direct talks in Istanbul within the first weeks after Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2024, however did not agree on how one can halt the combating, which has been raging ever since.
Source: www.dailysabah.com