Turkish FM: Putin–Zelenskyy meeting inevitable if talks yield clear agenda

Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan has expressed confidence that a meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy will become inevitable—provided that ongoing negotiations between the two sides reach a concrete stage.

“For the leaders to meet, certain decisions must be prepared in advance, and the negotiations between the delegations must reach an appropriate stage. In other words, such a summit requires a clear agenda,” Fidan said during a live interview with TRT television, as per Caliber.Az.

While emphasising that he was expressing a personal opinion and not speaking on behalf of either party, the Turkish foreign minister stated that a leaders’ summit could be a logical step forward after several rounds of dialogue.

Fidan also recalled that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has repeatedly stated his readiness to host both leaders for direct talks in Türkiye.

According to Fidan, during his recent visits to Moscow and Kyiv, he personally conveyed Erdoğan’s proposal to both President Putin and President Zelenskyy to organise a summit aimed at advancing a political resolution to the ongoing conflict.

To recall, the first face-to-face meeting in years between the Ukrainian and Russian delegations was held in Türkiye on May 16. That round of talks led to an agreement on a significant prisoner exchange deal based on a “1,000-for-1,000” framework. The exchange was successfully implemented in three phases over the past weekend.

The second round of peace talks between the conflicting parties took place in Istanbul on June 2, but concluded with limited progress. The discussions, held at Istanbul’s Çırağan Palace, lasted under two hours and primarily addressed humanitarian issues.

Both sides agreed to an exchange involving at least 1,000 prisoners of war each, focusing on severely wounded and young captives aged 18 to 25. Additionally, they consented to return the remains of approximately 6,000 soldiers killed in combat.

Ukraine urged the return of nearly 400 abducted children, but Russia agreed to work on returning only ten.

Despite these agreements, there was no consensus on a ceasefire. Russia proposed a conditional ceasefire requiring Ukraine to withdraw from four occupied regions, a demand Kyiv finds unacceptable. Ukrainian officials rejected this proposal, emphasising the need for an unconditional ceasefire to facilitate broader peace negotiations.

By Khagan Isayev