Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan is set to attend the third meeting of the Ukraine-Southeast Europe Summit in the Croatian city of Dubrovnik.
The summit, which was first held in the Greek capital, Athens, in August 2023 and then in Tirana, Albania, in February 2024, brings together leaders from Ukraine and regional countries.
The third summit, hosted by Croatia and Ukraine, is also expected to include heads of state or government and foreign ministers from Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Montenegro, Kosovo, North Macedonia, Moldova, Romania, Serbia, Slovenia and Greece.
Representation from the European Commission is also anticipated.
In his address at the summit, Fidan, who is attending on behalf of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, is expected to reiterate Ankara's support for efforts to end the Russia-Ukraine war and establish a fair and lasting solution based on international law, emphasizing the importance of a negotiation process involving all parties for a diplomatic resolution.
Fidan also plans to hold meetings on the situation in Ukraine and regional developments.
He recently represented Erdoğan at the Summit on Peace in Ukraine held in Switzerland on June 15-16.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in August that Türkiye was among the countries that could host the second Ukraine peace summit.
Türkiye has positioned itself as an intermediary in the Russia-Ukraine conflict and Erdoğan was a key player in brokering the Black Sea Grain Initiative.
Shortly after the conflict broke out in February 2022, Türkiye hosted a meeting between the Russian and Ukrainian foreign ministers, and there were unsuccessful talks between negotiators from the two countries to end the hostilities.
Türkiye was instrumental in implementing a now-on-hold deal that allowed for the safe passage of Ukrainian grain shipments via the Black Sea despite the blockade of its ports. The accord, brokered by Ankara and the United Nations in July 2022, ended after Moscow refused to renew it. Ankara has ramped up efforts to try to revive the initiative.
Türkiye is ready to host a peace summit with Russia and Ukraine, Erdoğan said in March, as he met with Zelenskyy in Istanbul.
