Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Saturday that the likelihood of further peace talks with Russia in Turkey depends on his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin, but added that Kyiv wants substantive talks to happen.
He told a news conference in Kyiv that eight people, including a 3-month-old child, had been killed in missile strikes in the southern port city of Odessa on Saturday. Moscow denies targeting civilians.
Peace talks in Istanbul offer the quickest way to end the war in Ukraine, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said on Friday.
The mediation process that started in Turkey is the most reliable method to overcome the crisis and halt the hostilities, Erdoğan told Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte in a phone call.
Erdoğan said Ankara remains engaged with Kyiv and Moscow on the issue of humanitarian corridors and stressed that such contacts will benefit efforts to stop the war and limit its global impact, according to a statement by the Communications Directorate.
Rutte, for his part, said in a tweet that the two leaders discussed the developments in war-weary Ukraine and Turkey's efforts to mediate between the conflicting sides.
"The Netherlands remains in dialogue with our partners and allies to further deepen our support for Ukraine," he said.
In a phone call with Zelenskyy on Sunday, Erdoğan also reiterated support for the negotiation process in the Russia-Ukraine war and said Turkey would welcome a guarantor position.
During the call, Erdoğan and Zelenskyy discussed the latest situation on the ground in the Russia-Ukraine war and the negotiation process, said a statement by the Turkish Communications Directorate.
Underlining Turkey's readiness to provide all means of support during the negotiation process, including mediation efforts, Erdoğan said evacuations must be ensured in Mariupol, where the situation is worsening by the day.
Erdoğan also told Zelenskyy that in principle, Turkey would be willing to become a guarantor of Ukraine's security.
Erdoğan announced on Friday he plans to call his Russian and Ukrainian counterparts to discuss holding peace talks at the leadership level in Turkey.
"We have planned to talk with Putin and Zelenskyy again one day or another. With this meeting, hopefully, we plan to continue the process in Istanbul at the level of leaders," Erdoğan told reporters in Istanbul.
Erdoğan said the negotiations between Russia and Ukraine have yielded "positive" results so far but acknowledged that Turkey had hoped for better results at the talks.
Noting that the negotiation process will get better, he said: "We are not hopeless."
Turkey is one of the most active countries working to ensure a permanent cease-fire between Ukraine and Russia. Its delicately balanced act of assuming a role as a mediator by keeping communication channels with both warring sides open provides a glimmer of hope in diplomatic efforts to find a solution and achieve peace in the Ukraine crisis. With its unique position of having friendly relations with both Russia and Ukraine, Turkey has won widespread praise for its push to end the war.
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. While Ankara has opposed international sanctions designed to isolate Moscow, it also closed its straits to prevent some Russian vessels from crossing through them.
In a breakthrough, Russian and Ukrainian delegations met for peace talks in Istanbul on March 29 as the war entered its second month with casualties piling up on both sides.
During the talks, Ukrainian officials signaled readiness to negotiate a "neutral status," a key Russian demand, but demanded security guarantees for their country. Ukraine wants to see countries, including Turkey, as guarantors in a deal with Russia, a Ukrainian negotiator said after the talks. Russia, meanwhile, pledged to significantly decrease its military activities focusing on the Ukrainian cities of Kyiv and Chernihiv to build trust for future negotiations.
Turkey also hosted the foreign ministers of Russia and Ukraine in Antalya last month. Foreign Ministers Sergey Lavrov of Russia and Dmytro Kuleba of Ukraine met in the Turkish resort town of Antalya for talks, which Foreign Minister Çavuşoğlu also attended. The talks were largely inconclusive, but Ankara views the fact that the talks took place at all as a success. Ankara has offered to host future peace talks.