President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan will meet with Ukrainian and Russian delegations ahead of their meeting in Istanbul, the Turkish leader said in a statement late Monday.
Speaking after a Cabinet meeting at Ankara's Presidential Complex, Erdoğan also said phone talks with his Ukrainian and Russian counterparts are continuing in a "favorable direction" amid the Russia-Ukraine war.
"I can express that the phone calls we've maintained with (Russian President) Mr. (Vladimir) Putin and (Ukrainian President) Mr. (Volodymyr) Zelenskyy are heading in a favorable direction," Erdoğan said at a news conference after a Cabinet meeting at the presidential complex in the Turkish capital Ankara.
Before a fresh round of peace talks between Ukraine and Russia is set to take place in Istanbul on Tuesday, Turkish officials will sit down with both sides for a "short meeting," Erdoğan noted.
"Today, we are the country that is making sincere efforts toward peace, and the only country which both sides trust in its fairness, sincerity, and friendship," he said.
"The world is bigger than five," Erdoğan said, reiterating his signature statement, and added that Turkey also expressed its objections "to the global governance and justice system before the United Nations Security Council."
"While we were expressing our stance against oppression, occupation, and tyranny by saying 'one minute' (in the 2009 World Economic Forum) in Davos, our concern was peace, tranquility, and respect for human life," he continued.
Turkey has not deviated from the same line despite all the pain it has suffered, the injustice it has been subjected to and the price it has paid in its nearly 40-year history of fighting against terrorism, Erdoğan stressed.
"We have carried out our cross-border political, diplomatic, and security struggle in this entire region from the Balkans to the Caucasus, from Syria to Libya, with this understanding," he added.
The Russia-Ukraine war, which started on Feb. 24, has met international outrage with the EU, the U.S., and the U.K., among others, implementing tough financial sanctions on Moscow.
At least 1,151 civilians have been killed in Ukraine and 1,842 injured, according to estimates by the U.N., which cautioned that the true figure is likely far higher.
More than 3.87 million Ukrainians have also fled to several European countries, with millions more internally displaced, according to the U.N. refugee agency.
Erdoğan has repeatedly said that Turkey will not abandon its relations with Russia or Ukraine, underlining that Ankara's ability to speak to both sides is an asset.
Ukrainian negotiator David Arakhamia announced Sunday that the next round of one-on-one talks between Kyiv and Moscow will take place in Turkey on March 28-30.
Arakhamia made the announcement on social media.
Ukraine described previous talks with Russia, launched after Russia unleashed an invasion last month, as "very difficult."
Ankara hosted the foreign ministers of Russia and Ukraine in Antalya earlier this month. Foreign Ministers Sergey Lavrov of Russia and Dmytro Kuleba of Ukraine met for talks in the Turkish resort town of Antalya, which Çavuşoğlu also attended. The talks were largely inconclusive, but Ankara considers the fact that they took place at all a success.
Maintaining its neutral and balanced stance, Turkey continues its diplomatic efforts to de-escalate the Ukraine conflict, urging all sides to exercise restraint. While Ankara has opposed international sanctions designed to isolate Moscow, it also closed its straits to prevent some Russian vessels from crossing through them.
NATO ally Turkey borders Ukraine and Russia in the Black Sea and has good ties with both. Since the beginning of the conflict, Ankara has offered to mediate between the two sides and host peace talks, underlining its support for Ukraine’s territorial integrity and sovereignty.
