KYIV, April 22 – Ukrainian officials have reached out to Turkey with a request to facilitate a diplomatic meeting between President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Russian President Vladimir Putin, according to the country’s foreign minister, as efforts continue to restart stalled peace negotiations.
“We asked the Turks about it, we asked some other capitals,” Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha told reporters Tuesday in remarks released Wednesday.
Sybiha explained that Ukrainian leadership would be open to meeting Putin in any location except Belarus or Russia – a summit that Zelenskyy has been pursuing in hopes of accelerating an end to the conflict that has stretched beyond four years.
Belarus remains off limits as a potential venue due to its close relationship with Russia and its role in allowing Moscow to use its territory as a launching point for the 2022 full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
The foreign minister did not reveal Turkey’s response to the diplomatic overture.
“We addressed the Turks specifically,” Sybiha stated. “But if another capital, besides Moscow and Belarus, organises such a meeting, we will go.”
Russian leadership has previously indicated willingness to host Zelenskyy in Moscow, but the Ukrainian president has firmly rejected traveling to the Russian capital.
In related diplomatic developments, Sybiha confirmed he has already begun correspondence with Anita Orban, who is set to become Hungary’s foreign minister when the newly elected government assumes power following this month’s election victory.
