Turkey’s Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan is headed to Moscow this week, where he plans to renew his country’s offer to serve as a host for negotiations between Russia and Ukraine, according to a diplomatic source who spoke on Monday.
The two-day visit, scheduled for Tuesday and Wednesday, comes just ahead of a NATO summit that Turkey will host on July 7 and 8. It also follows a request made by Kyiv in April asking Ankara to step in as a mediator and host a meeting between top leaders. Turkey has managed to maintain working relationships with both Russia and Ukraine since Russia launched its invasion in 2022.
According to the Turkish diplomatic source, Fidan is expected to sit down with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and will also have a separate meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
During those discussions, Fidan plans to caution against any further escalation of tensions in the Black Sea. He will also reiterate Turkey’s proposal for a limited ceasefire covering ports and energy infrastructure in the region. In recent months, both Ukraine and Russia have blamed each other for drone strikes targeting tankers near Turkey’s northern coastline.
On the Ukrainian side, an official indicated that Kyiv would be open to Turkey hosting direct bilateral talks — something President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has called for on multiple occasions.
Last month, Ukraine’s ambassador to Ankara told Reuters that his country was seeking a closer relationship with Turkey, including potential joint efforts in defense manufacturing.
Fidan’s agenda in Moscow will also include a discussion of the South Caucasus region, following the recent election victory of Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan. That conversation is expected to touch on ongoing peace negotiations between Armenia and Azerbaijan — a process that could also help move forward Turkey’s own efforts to normalize relations with Armenia.
