President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan reiterated Türkiye’s offer to facilitate negotiations between Russia and Ukraine, as he said Ankara emphasizes diplomacy and dialogue to put an end to the war between the two countries.
"We are ready to re-establish the negotiation table, which we previously set up in Istanbul, for peace," Erdoğan said Wednesday, in a video message sent to the Ukraine-South East Europe Summit.
He noted that Türkiye continues to support Ukraine’s independence, sovereignty, security and territorial integrity, and strives to ensure that the rights of Crimean Tatars are protected. He also said that Ankara is ready to contribute to the reconstruction of Ukraine, as he said he believes the two sides need to give diplomacy and dialogue a chance to facilitate peace.
Erdoğan also said Türkiye supports Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s 10-point peace plan in principle.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s 10-point peace plan is based on a complete Russian withdrawal from Ukraine, reparations and punishment of war criminals, as well as the release of Ukrainian prisoners of war and their return under mediation by Riyadh.
Ukraine has been defending itself against a full-scale Russian invasion for more than two years. For its campaign, Kyiv has received massive international support mostly from Western allies in the form of weapons deliveries, humanitarian aid as well as sanctions against Russia.
Türkiye was a key player in the now-on-hold deal that allowed for the safe passage of Ukrainian grain shipments via the Black Sea despite the blockade of its ports after Moscow launched its invasion in late February 2022.
The accord, brokered by Ankara and the United Nations in July 2022, ended after Moscow refused to renew it. Ankara has ramped up efforts to try to revive the initiative.
Türkiye has positioned itself as an intermediary in the Russia-Ukraine conflict and Erdoğan was a key player in brokering the Black Sea Grain Initiative.
Moscow withdrew from the accord on July 17, accusing the West of hampering its own grain and fertilizer exports, and has since attacked Ukrainian agricultural and port infrastructure. It has said that it was ready to return to the deal once an accompanying agreement concerning Russia was implemented.