Key points
- Talks to discuss prisoner exchanges and other matters
- Zelensky due to travel to Saudi Arabia
- Russian invaded Ukraine nearly three years ago
KYIV, Ukraine: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Monday he had arrived in Turkey for talks with Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan on prisoner exchanges and other matters.
“Official visit with the First Lady to Turkey. Meetings with President Erdogan and First Lady Emine Erdogan,” Zelensky said on his Telegram account.
The visit came as US and Russian officials geared up for high-profile talks in Saudi Arabia without Kyiv’s presence.
The Turkish presidency said on Monday Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky will visit Turkey on Tuesday for talks with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in the capital Ankara.
The pair will discuss steps to “further strengthen cooperation between the two countries,” Erdogan’s chief press aide Fahrettin Altun wrote on X.
Cumhurbaşkanımız Sayın Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, davetine icabetle ülkemize resmi bir ziyaret gerçekleştirecek olan Ukrayna Devlet Başkanı Volodimir Zelenskiy ile 18 Şubat Salı günü Cumhurbaşkanlığı Külliyesinde görüşeceklerdir.
Görüşmelerde, Türkiye-Ukrayna stratejik ortaklık…
— Fahrettin Altun (@fahrettinaltun) February 17, 2025
The Ukrainian president flew to Ankara from the United Arab Emirates (UAE), where he landed on Sunday for talks on economic cooperation.
On Wednesday, he is due to travel to Saudi Arabia.
Third visit to Turkey
It will be Zelensky’s third visit to Turkey since Russian troops invaded Ukraine nearly three years ago. He last visited in March 2024.
NATO member Turkey has sought to maintain good relations with its warring Black Sea neighbours, with Erdogan pitching himself as a key go-between and possible peace-maker between the two.
Ankara has provided drones for Ukraine but shied away from Western-led sanctions on Moscow.
Zelensky’s visit to Turkey comes on the same day that Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov meets US officials in Riyadh as part of what the Kremlin says are efforts to repair ties with Washington.
US and Russian officials are preparing for a summit between their two leaders, with Europe and Kyiv worried they will try to end the war in Ukraine without them.
