ANKARA, Turkiye: Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Tuesday received his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky in Ankara as Kyiv seeks to bolster its position in response to US-Russia talks.
Several other top Turkish officials were present at the closed-door meeting, including Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan, National Defence Minister Yasar Guler, Communications Director Fahrettin Altun, and Akif Cagatay Kilic, the president’s chief foreign policy and security adviser, Anadolu news agency reported. Zelenskyy is paying the official visit to Türkiye at the invitation of Erdogan.
Zelensky arrived in the Turkish capital from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) late on Monday. In a post on Telegram, the Ukrainian president said he would discuss prisoner exchanges and other issues with Erdogan.
The talks at Erdogan’s presidential palace came several hours after top US and Russian diplomats met in Saudi Arabia for their first high-level talks since the war between Russia and Ukraine started nearly three years ago. Zelensky will also visit Riyadh on Wednesday.
Turkiye a NATO member has sought to maintain good ties with its Black Sea neighbours. The country has provided drones for Ukraine but did not agree with the Western-led sanctions on Moscow.
President @RTErdogan welcomed President Volodymyr Zelenskyy of Ukraine, who is paying an official visit to Türkiye, with a ceremony at the Presidential Complex. pic.twitter.com/C0jvU3WB9d
— Presidency of the Republic of Türkiye (@trpresidency) February 18, 2025
Ankara has played a role in brokering several prisoner swap deals between Russia and Ukraine which have seen hundreds of prisoners returning home despite the ongoing war.
Earlier on Tuesday, Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov met with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio in Riyadh in a bid to re-open ties with Washington.
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The meeting signals a departure from the stance of former US President Joe Biden’s administration, which had avoided direct diplomatic engagement with Russia, arguing that Moscow was not serious about ending the war.
Despite the diplomatic overture, Ukraine has reiterated that it was not invited to the talks and warned that no agreements can be made on its behalf without its direct involvement.
President Zelensky has stressed the need for security guarantees and the restoration of Ukraine’s territorial integrity, stating that Kyiv “will never, under any circumstances, recognise our temporarily occupied territories as part of Russia.
