Spanish
Istanbul.- The President of Turkey, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, spoke this Tuesday by phone with his Ukrainian counterpart, Volodymyr Zelensky, to whom he reiterated his offer to host a peace summit to resolve the war caused by the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
The conversation, held just three days before the meeting between the US President, Donald Trump, and his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, in Alaska (USA), began at the request of Zelensky, underlines a statement from the Turkish Presidency. The two leaders discussed bilateral, regional and global issues, the statement indicates, which does not mention the summit in Alaska, which Zelensky has criticized for taking place without Ukrainian participation. During the phone call, Erdogan underlined the value of the three meetings that have taken place between Russian and Ukrainian delegations in Istanbul, and expressed the desire that in future rounds a ceasefire agreement be reached that paves the way for a lasting peace. He also reiterated his offer for Turkey to host a future leaders' summit, highlighting that this could take place after working groups are created for the political, humanitarian, and military areas.You may be interested in: Putin closes ranks with his main allies before the summit with Trump
In the three meetings between Russian and Ukrainian delegations in Istanbul, held last May, June, and July, negotiators made progress on certain humanitarian aspects, especially in a prisoner exchange agreement, but did not bring positions closer regarding a ceasefire. In the last meeting, on July 23rd, the Russian chief negotiator, Vladimir Medinsky, proposed to Ukraine the creation of three working groups - political, military and humanitarian -, as he told the press after the meeting.Erdogan promised Zelensky that Turkey would continue to maintain its position of support for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine.
