Turkish FM to visit Kyiv following talks with Putin in Moscow

Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan is expected to travel to Kyiv later this week to meet with Ukrainian officials and follow up on the recent peace talks held in Istanbul between Russia and Ukraine, Turkish diplomatic sources confirmed.

Fidan is currently on a two-day visit to Moscow, where he met with Russian President Vladimir Putin and leading Russian negotiator Vladimir Medinsky on May 26, Caliber.Az reports, citing Turkish press.

He is also scheduled to meet with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on May 27. Discussions have focused on the aftermath of the Istanbul negotiations, bilateral relations, and the possibility of resuming peace talks between Moscow and Kyiv.

According to a Turkish Foreign Ministry source, the meeting between Fidan and Putin included a review of the initiatives aimed at ending the war in Ukraine, with particular attention to the developments following the Istanbul talks held earlier this month. The same source noted that economic and energy cooperation between Türkiye and Russia was also on the agenda.

The Istanbul meeting brought together Russian and Ukrainian delegations for the first time since March 2022. Although a cease-fire was not reached, both sides agreed to exchange 1,000 prisoners of war and to submit written outlines of their conditions for a possible future cease-fire.

While no formal schedule or location has been established for additional rounds of negotiations, Türkiye has repeatedly offered to host future talks and continue its role as a mediator. A Turkish diplomatic official stated that Fidan reiterated Ankara’s willingness to act as a facilitator in future negotiations and emphasized Türkiye’s readiness to assist in achieving a diplomatic resolution.

Russian officials have acknowledged that Türkiye is among a group of countries—including the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and Oman—that could potentially serve as hosts for further dialogue.

Türkiye, a NATO member, has maintained open channels of communication with both Moscow and Kyiv throughout the conflict, enabling it to play a unique and constructive role in efforts to secure a permanent cease-fire. While Ankara has opposed Western-led sanctions against Russia, it has also taken steps to constrain Russian military movement, notably by closing the Turkish straits to certain naval vessels.

This dual-track approach has allowed Türkiye to mediate several key initiatives, including the now-suspended Black Sea grain export deal, which helped facilitate Ukrainian agricultural shipments despite the Russian naval blockade.

Previous peace talks, also held in Istanbul in March 2022, collapsed after Russian forces withdrew from Bucha, a Kyiv suburb where hundreds of civilians were later found dead. Since then, direct contact between Russia and Ukraine has been limited and largely confined to humanitarian issues such as prisoner exchanges and the repatriation of fallen soldiers.

By Tamilla Hasanova