Ankara will be part of one of the working groups that will be launched during a summit of world leaders in Switzerland to discuss Kyiv's vision for peace in the upcoming months, Ukraine’s Ambassador to Türkiye Vasyl Bodnar said.
Speaking to Daily Sabah in an exclusive interview, Bodnar explained, “The peace summit, which will launch the process of implementation of a peace formula, was previously discussed by the security advisors to the president and is planned to launch the working groups for separate directions.”
“We are very grateful that Türkiye agreed on the proposals to lead group number two, dedicated to global food security,” Bodnar elaborated, indicating that Kyiv believes it will be a successful cooperation between the two countries, and also the members of the international community who will join the effort.
“So, the main idea is that Türkiye already had the experience of the grain deal, which was a successful initiative, and successful Turkish diplomacy, for creating an opportunity for global food security,” he said.
“For us and for the countries in need, it is completely necessary to have a safe way of transferring food from Ukraine and from other regions as well to the international markets in need. It doesn't mean only that it should be delivered to Africa, to Asia, but it could be also delivered to Türkiye or Spain, where the majority of these grains can be reproduced into ready products that can then be delivered or sold to other markets.”
Bodnar noted that the crucial issue here is what President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan announced during his recent news conference with his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelenskyy, namely the safety of navigation in the Black Sea, and creating more safe conditions for the shipping companies and for ships to come to Ukrainian ports.
On the other hand, the ambassador pointed out that at the end of the Swiss summit, bilateral and multilateral proposals for peace will be evaluated and the blueprint for peace would then be presented to Russia, after which it could participate in the upcoming meetings. “There should be a consolidated voice of the international community before inviting Russia,” he added, saying that Ukraine previously tried to speak with Russia but that it did not bear results. Bodnar thanked Türkiye again for managing to bring the two countries' foreign ministers together in 2022 on the sidelines of the Antalya Diplomacy Forum. “There was a plan to bring together the leaders, but what Russia did was just to reboot forces and start new attacks.”
Reiterating Russia’s occupation of Crimea in 2024, Bodnar said: “Russia had already occupied 7% of our territory. Now it is more than 20%. And we don't trust Russians, because they have every time broken all the deals we signed before.”
Bodnar emphasized that for victory at the negotiating table, victory is needed on the battleground. “It is our main strategy to renew our territorial integrity and we are thankful to Türkiye for recognition of this right and the non-recognition of the annexation of Crimea,” he added, saying that it is a crucial moment to gain back Crimea.
"If Russia stops fighting, the war will be over; if we stop fighting, we will be over," he stressed.
After two years of war, Russia holds just under a fifth of Ukraine's internationally recognized territory. Moscow has repeatedly said it is open to talks, but that these must recognize the "new realities on the ground." Ukraine demands the restoration of its territorial integrity and a full withdrawal of Russian forces, a condition mentioned also as part of Zelenskyy’s 10-point peace plan announced at a 2022 G-20 summit.
Saying that Kyiv seeks the solidarity of the international community, Bodnar described the ongoing war as a “war of independence” and said: “We need to defend ourselves. We will not surrender to Russian demands. That is the main reason why bilateral talks (with Russia) are impossible today.”
He added that regular discussions with Türkiye continue, including on peace efforts, security in the Black Sea as well as prisoner exchanges, among which include “kids who have been stolen by Russians, old and ill prisoners and political prisoners."
“There are also other initiatives that may be made public soon,” he said.
Being asked whether global support for Ukraine has waned as attention has shifted toward the ongoing war in Gaza, Bodnar said that international support was “changing” but “not decreasing.”
“The war is as terrible as it was,” he underlined and said that the change in support was rooted in the internal processes of countries such as the U.S. entering its pre-election period. Listing the examples of the EU considering Ukraine’s membership and the U.S. assistance package, Bodnar said support is ongoing.
“There are separate countries who really announced unilateral decisions, like Denmark, Netherlands, the Czech Republic, who are working on providing us with artillery shells. The variety of support is being diversified. Now there are even talks in some countries about sending troops,” he added, saying that these included France, Poland and the Czech Republic.
“The main reason for that is they're afraid that Ukraine might be forced to withdraw because of a lack of supplies and that they need to reinforce Ukrainian forces. This doesn't mean physically being on the field or fighting for Ukraine. But for example, to protect the border with Belarus, which is more than 1,000 kilometers.”
Pointing out that Ukraine still has enough manpower, he stressed that it needs “ammunition and weapons, which is still not enough in comparison with the Russian forces.”
As Russia continues to mount its deadly attacks, the country’s border regions and energy sites have become focused targets. The Syzran refinery was on fire after an attack on Saturday. Two other big refineries were set on fire earlier this week by drone strikes that shut down half or more of their output, raising questions as to whether Ukraine launched a new strategy to weaken Moscow’s energy infrastructure.
Ukraine-based armed groups – made up of Russian citizens who oppose Moscow's invasion and have taken up arms for Kyiv – have claimed to be behind previous incursions into Russian territory.
“We have no official confirmation that it was Ukrainian UAVs. On the other side, all strategic objects and military objects are legitimate targets for us,” Bodnar said.
“This means that there are other people with Russian backgrounds who have different views on the situation,” he added and said that other nationalities living in Russia and suppressed such as Tatars see there is “a glimmer of hope.”
“They believe that Ukraine could be a game changer for their destiny, as well. At least if they have a will, they could express it and do something for their own destiny.”
Bodnar also touched upon the growing defense industry cooperation between Türkiye and Ukraine, describing the field traditionally as a “locomotive of our strategic partnership” that helped both countries to be “stronger, more defended and resilient” to challenges.
He reiterated that Türkiye’s Bayraktar drones were one of the key elements of Ukraine’s defense at the beginning of the war. Bodnar indicated that Ukrainian high-tech equipment is also widely used by the Turkish defense industry for UAVs, helicopters and planes.
Most recently, Zelenskyy visited shipyards in Istanbul where Türkiye is building two corvette warships for Ukraine and met with representatives of the Turkish defense industry.
Ukraine has been fending off a full-scale Russian invasion for over two years with Western help. Currently, Kyiv is striving to ramp up its defense production, an effort it sees as essential as Western allies waver over providing additional vital military aid. Meanwhile, Türkiye provided Kyiv with arms, most strategically combat drones.
“We previously visited some of these companies at the Ukraine Defense Forum, which was last September. And we have a variety of plans about cooperation together and creating different new opportunities, which will be beneficial for both countries. For security reasons, we're not disclosing things that are either confidential or agreed not to disclose,” Bodnar explained.
Türkiye and Ukraine in late January also signed an accord that will allow Turkish construction firms to take part in the reconstruction of Ukrainian infrastructure damaged amid Russia's invasion.
“We are now preparing for the visit of a special task force group, which will be headed most probably by one of the key ministers of Türkiye, and they will discuss the exact road map and plans for the concrete companies and concrete projects to be implemented. So it's one of the key pillars of our strategic partnership,” the ambassador said, indicating that besides bilateral cooperation, partnership with third countries such as Japan, Italy and France will also take place.
Bodnar said that Türkiye has especially valuable experience in road and bridge construction but housing and the creation of new organized industrial zones are also potential areas for Turkish companies. European funding will be correctly managed to answer all needs, Bodnar said and added that green energy, including wind and solar energy, can also be a cooperation field with Türkiye. Factories producing products needed for the construction efforts such as cement will similarly be essential.
He emphasized that Türkiye could take over the work of one region such as that of the eastern Kharkiv region.
“But there is also a need to use Turkish experience in fields like medicine or the creation of hospitals, which you have very good experience in the dimension of private and public partnership. We need your experience, your people and the companies that are running these hospitals. We have already managed to attract some Turkish companies to look into hospitals in the city of Izium,” he explained.
Turkish companies could also play a role in social infrastructure, including water supplies and related to communal activities. Systematized sisterships between cities are also considered so that companies situated in these countries could work more closely together. Turkish restaurants are similarly invited, the ambassador said, mentioning that Turkish cuisine is very popular in the country.
