ANKARA, April 22 (Reuters) – Turkey is making efforts to revive negotiations between Russia and Ukraine and bring together the leaders of the warring sides, Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan told NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte in a meeting in Ankara, the Turkish presidency said on Wednesday.
Earlier on Wednesday, Kyiv said it had asked Turkey, a NATO member, to host a leaders’ level meeting with Russia. Ankara has maintained good ties with both Ukraine and Russia since Moscow’s full-scale invasion in 2022.
“Erdogan said we were engaged, as Turkey, for the Ukraine-Russia war to end with peace, and that we are working to revive negotiations and start talks at leaders’ level,” the presidency said in a readout of the meeting.
The Turkish president also told Rutte that maintaining transatlantic ties was “indispensable”, but that Ankara expected European NATO allies to take more responsibility for transatlantic security, the presidency said.
Erdogan later held a call with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, the presidency said, adding that he told the German leader the U.S.-Iran war was “starting to weaken Europe” and that the damage from the conflict would increase if world powers failed to intervene with “peace-oriented approaches”.
“Erdogan said Turkey was working to end the Ukraine-Russia war through negotiations and reach lasting peace, just as it is trying with regards to Iran,” the presidency said in a separate statement.
Turkey shares a border with Iran and has repeatedly called for an end to the war. It hosted a diplomacy forum last weekend attended by delegations from all sides, and is in close contact with the U.S., Iran, and mediators Pakistan.
(Reporting by Tuvan Gumrukcu; Editing by Alex Richardson and Paul Simao)
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