ANKARA, Turkiye: Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Wednesday urged Ukraine and Russia to return to negotiations in Istanbul where their last round of talks on ending the war was held in July.
“In today’s meetings, we also emphasised the need for the Istanbul process to continue with a pragmatic and results-oriented approach,” Erdogan told a news conference alongside Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Ankara.
“We also expect all our partners who wish to see the bloodshed in the region come to an end to adopt a constructive approach toward the Istanbul process,” he said.
Istanbul hosted three rounds of talks by top negotiators from Ukraine and Russia between May and July that failed to yield anything more than large-scale prisoner exchanges.
Zelensky said he hoped to resume prisoner swaps with Russia by the end of this year.
“We hope to restore exchanges by the end of the year, to bring back a significant number of prisoners,” he said.
Erdogan pointed to the intensified attacks in the war as a reason to revive the talks.
“In particular, the increasing attacks on energy infrastructure and the resulting loss of life are bringing about irreparable destruction for both parties,” he said.
“We are of the view that revitalising the Istanbul process with a more comprehensive framework — one that can address the now-acute issues — would be beneficial.”
Erdogan added: “We are always ready to discuss proposals” with Moscow that would lead to a ceasefire and lasting peace.
“In this regard, we also value the involvement of our ally, the United States, in the process,” he said.
Turkiye is among the candidates for mediating the conflict as it enjoys good relations with both sides.
It is also a member of NATO that remains vigilant against the possibility of a spillover of the conflict to Europe’s eastern flank. Istanbul was the venue of peace talks between Russia and Ukraine in the early weeks of the conflict three years ago.
Media reports have indicated that the United States, which also pushes for an end to the conflict, would also send its envoy Steve Witkoff to Turkiye to join Zelensky’s talks with Turkish officials.
However, a US State Department official, cited by AFP, said on Wednesday that Witkoff will not attend talks between Zelensky and Erdogan in Turkiye.
“It is false that Special Envoy Witkoff will be traveling to Turkey,” a senior US State Department official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
Media outlet Axios has reported on Tuesday that Washington has been secretly working on a roadmap to end the war in consultation with Russia.
Asked about the report, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said on Wednesday there were no developments to announce on possible peace proposals since Putin and Trump held a summit in Alaska in August.
