The presidents of Ukraine and Türkiye on Friday will be discussing the potential extension of the Black Sea grain deal, a possible prisoner swap between Moscow and Kyiv, as well as Ukraine's bid to join NATO, Turkish officials said.
Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelenskyy will be making his first visit to Türkiye since Russia’s invasion and meeting President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan upon his invitation as part of his tour to drum up support and more weapons.
The talks in Istanbul come on the eve of the 500th day since Russia's invasion, with Zelenskyy admitting a widely anticipated Ukrainian counteroffensive was progressing slowly.
"But nevertheless, we are advancing, not retreating, like Russians," Zelenskyy told reporters in the Czech Republic on Thursday evening. "We now have the initiative."
The talks with Erdoğan – an important broker in the conflict – are to focus on an expiring deal to ship Ukrainian grain across the Black Sea as well as next week's NATO summit.
Another possible prisoner exchange between Moscow and Kyiv will be on the table, a senior Turkish official said ahead of the talks on Friday.
Erdoğan and Russian President Vladimir Putin might hold a phone call following talks with Zelenskyy and a Turkish minister could also visit Moscow for further discussions, the official added.
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov too on Friday confirmed such a talk was possible without specifying a date, saying Putin has highly appreciated the mediation of Erdoğan in attempting to resolve the conflict in Ukraine.
"As for forthcoming contacts between Putin and Erdoğan, we do not rule them out in the foreseeable future," Peskov said.
Analysts also expect Zelenskyy to push Erdoğan to give a green light for Sweden's NATO membership ahead of the July 11-12 meeting of the military alliance in the Lithuanian capital Vilnius.
Türkiye is blocking Sweden's candidacy because of a longstanding dispute about Stockholm's lax attitude toward members of the PKK/YPG terrorist group living in the Nordic country.
Zelenskyy is seeking NATO accession for his own country, which has been battling a Russian invasion since February 2022, and has said he wants the summit to lead to an "invitation" to join the bloc.
Both Zelenskyy and Erdoğan want to extend the United Nations and Türkiye-brokered deal with Russia under which Ukraine has been allowed to ship grain to global markets during the war.
The deal will expire on July 17 unless Russia agrees to its renewal. Russian officials have strongly hinted that this month they could block the extension of the deal, complaining that parts of the deal to allow Russian exports have gone unfulfilled.
Erdoğan has tried to leverage good working relations with both Zelenskyy and Putin to mediate an end to the war.
Putin too is expected to make the trip to Türkiye soon, recent reports said.
Türkiye staged two early rounds of peace negotiations and is pushing for more talks.
The country's delicately balanced act of assuming a mediator role 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.
In a breakthrough, Russian and Ukrainian delegations met for peace talks in Istanbul last year. Türkiye also hosted the Russian and Ukrainian foreign ministers in Antalya the same year.
