The Istanbul process continues to be the best opportunity for peace in Europe, Austria's Chancellor Karl Nehammer said Thursday, announcing that he will meet President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on the sidelines of an upcoming NATO summit in Madrid.
In a written statement from the Prime Ministry to the Austrian News Agency (APA), it was reported that Nehammer will meet with Erdoğan within the scope of the summit to be held at the end of June.
In the statement, it was stated that non-NATO member countries of the European Union were also invited to the summit to be held in Madrid, and Nehammer would go to Spain in line with this invitation.
It was pointed out that in the phone conversations between the two leaders in the past weeks, bilateral relations, as well as the Russia-Ukraine war, were discussed, and it was emphasized that the relations between the two countries have developed positively.
"As a result of numerous meetings with Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelenskyy, meetings with Russian President Vladimir Putin and phone calls with President Erdoğan, I believe that the Istanbul process continues to be the best chance for peace in Europe," the chancellor also said.
Relations between the two countries have made progress in line with the negotiations held at various levels in the recent period.
Austrian Foreign Minister Alexander Schallenberg's participation in the Antalya Diplomacy Forum and the phone conversations Nehammer had with Erdoğan before and after his visit to Russia on April 12, contributed to the positive progress of relations between the two countries.
Every opportunity should be used toward ending the humanitarian tragedy in Ukraine, Erdoğan said in a phone call with the Austrian chancellor recently.
Urging support for the Istanbul process to advance peace talks between Russia and Ukraine, Erdoğan discussed the war and bilateral ties with Nehammer last month.
Erdoğan also thanked the Austrian premier for praising Ankara's role to end the war as soon as possible and expressing his support for the Istanbul process regarding peace talks.
Ankara would continue its efforts in favor of a peaceful solution, he underlined.
"We agree that the Istanbul process is the best opportunity for peace in Ukraine," Nehammer had said on Twitter.
Austria will always contribute to peace with its policy of active neutrality, the chancellor said.
Nehammer held various contacts as part of his trip to Ukraine's capital Kyiv on April 9 and visited war-hit areas, particularly Bucha, a liberated Ukrainian city near Kyiv where the bodies of civilians allegedly killed by Russian troops were discovered.
Following his visit to Kyiv, Nehammer went to Moscow on April 11 and met with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Commenting on the meeting, he said it was "difficult."
Nehammer became the first European leader to visit Moscow since the beginning of the Russia-Ukraine war on Feb. 24.
The continuation of the Istanbul peace process can play a "key role" in ending the Russia-Ukraine war, Presidential Spokesperson Ibrahim Kalın also said last week.
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 in March.
