Ankara supports the idea of immediately halting air and maritime attacks as confidence-building measures between Ukraine and Russia and concrete steps toward a cease-fire, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said on Friday.
"Our efforts to reach an agreement that will guarantee the safety of navigation in the Black Sea align with this approach," Erdoğan told an online meeting organized by the EU.
His statement came shortly after the Ukrainian president repeated his demand for "silence in the skies ... and also silence at sea," on X following a "massive" Russian attack on the country's energy grid overnight.
And on Sunday, French President Emmanuel Macron said London and Paris were proposing a one-month truce in Ukraine "in the air, at sea and on energy infrastructure."
Türkiye, which has twice hosted Ukraine-Russia talks since the start of the war, also argues both sides must be seated at the table for any peace negotiations to work. Meanwhile, the Kremlin said on the same day that a draft peace deal discussed between Russia and Ukraine in Istanbul in 2022 could be the starting point for a settlement of the Ukraine crisis.
"Today, we draw attention to the importance of a solid diplomatic ground where both warring parties will be at the table for a just, lasting and honorable peace," he said.
NATO member Türkiye has sought to maintain good relations with its warring Black Sea neighbors, with President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan pitching himself as a key go-between and possible peacemaker between the two warring countries.
Ankara has provided drones for Ukraine but shied away from Western-led sanctions on Moscow. It has brokered a grain deal under the shadow of conflict and prisoner exchanges between the sides.
"It is important for Türkiye to be included in mechanisms such as the European Peace Facility, which aims for reconstruction and revitalization of Ukraine,” Erdoğan said further. Türkiye believes that planning all steps on European security together with Ankara would be “in our mutual interest,” he added.
“We believe there is no explanation for our exclusion from the EU's defense product procurement and reconstruction programs, given the support of our defense industry to Ukraine and the contributions of our private sector, which did not leave the country despite the war conditions."
He reiterated that European security does not only concern members of the EU.
“With all these efforts, it is without doubt essential to get the strong support of our ally the U.S. and protect trans-Atlantic ties at a maximum,” he continued.
A day earlier, Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan also said similarly that, “A sustainable and deterrent security architecture for the European Union is only possible with the participation of Türkiye.”
"The issue of Europe's security cannot be reduced solely to the war in Ukraine. The topic of Europe's security architecture must be addressed from a long-term and strategic perspective. In this context, a sustainable and deterrent security architecture is only possible with Türkiye's participation," Fidan said while addressing a joint news conference with his Croatian counterpart, Gordan Grlic Radman, in Ankara.
Erdoğan also touched upon relations and cooperation between Ankara and Brussels.
Ankara maintains its EU bid, said the president, adding: “We expect the EU to adopt a more strategic approach to revitalize our membership negotiations.”
Türkiye has the longest history with the union and the longest negotiation process. The country signed an association agreement with the EU's predecessor in 1964, the European Economic Community (EEC), which is usually regarded as a first step to eventually becoming a candidate. Applying for official candidacy in 1987, Türkiye had to wait until 1999 to be granted the status of a candidate country. For the start of the negotiations, however, Türkiye had to wait for another six years, until 2005, a uniquely long process compared with other candidates. In recent years, the accession process seems stalled.
