As of: February 29, 2024, 1:35 p.m
By: Stephanie Munk
Comments
Press
Split
Negotiations between Russia and Ukraine have already taken place in Turkey.
Erdogan is now once again offering himself as a mediator for peace.
Istanbul – Peace in Ukraine through negotiations?
At the beginning of the war there was still hope for this.
A few weeks after Russia's brutal attack on its neighboring country, delegations from Russia and Ukraine sat at the negotiating table in Istanbul.
Now Recep Tayyip Erdoğan apparently wants to make a new attempt.
Two years after the failed attempt at mediation in Turkey, Erdogan is said to have said in a video speech at the Ukraine-Southeastern Europe summit in Albania that he wanted to host peace talks again.
The Turkish state news agency Anadolu
reports on this, among others
.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Russian leader Vladimir Putin in September 2023. © Sergei Karpukhin/Imago
Erdogan wants a “just and lasting” solution to the Ukraine war through negotiations
Erdogan complained that there are currently not enough efforts to find a peaceful solution to the conflict.
However, he sees the “use of diplomatic channels at the highest level” as immensely important.
The aim of the negotiations is a “just and lasting solution” to the conflict
The first negotiations in March 2022 were unsuccessful: As is well known, the war in Ukraine is still going on today, with hardened fronts, hundreds of thousands of victims and an uncertain outcome.
Erdogan supports Ukraine’s peace plan “in principle”.
During his speech at the summit, Erdogan is said to have emphasized that Turkey supports Ukraine's independence, sovereignty, security and territorial integrity.
“In principle” Turkey is in favor of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyj's ten-point plan, which he made a condition of peace with Russia at the end of 2022.
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Ukraine demands, among other things, the restoration of its integrity, the release of all deportees and a complete withdrawal of Russian troops from Ukraine.
Russia, on the other hand, repeatedly demanded that Ukraine recognize the “new territorial realities”.
In his State of the Nation speech on Thursday (February 29), Putin appeared anything but interested in peace, but on the contrary threatened the West with “tragic consequences.”
Erdogan offers negotiations in Turkey – What do Ukraine and Russia want?
Erdogan apparently still wants to mediate - but the question is whether Russia and Ukraine are even willing to do so.
Zelenskyj issued a decree a long time ago prohibiting negotiations with Vladimir Putin - a reaction to the Russian annexation of Ukrainian territories in October 2022, which violated international law.
Putin has been signaling his willingness to negotiate for several weeks.
However, observers see this as a possible tactic: Putin wants to freeze the conflict and speculate that Western supporters will lose interest in the Ukraine war in order to then have a free hand.
Erdogan as mediator between Putin and Zelensky – What role does Turkey play?
Erdogan has positioned himself indifferent to Putin since the outbreak of the Ukraine war.
His efforts to portray himself as a peacemaker in the war between Russia and Ukraine can be partly explained by close economic ties with Moscow.
Erdogan and Putin are also said to have a classic male friendship.
The Turkish president has been able to claim at least one negotiation success since the start of the Ukraine war: the grain deal was negotiated in Istanbul in the summer of 2022, which continued to enable Ukrainian exports abroad.
However, Russia has since withdrawn from the agreement.
Turkey also played a mediating role in the exchange of prisoners of war.
In any case, Erdogan never stopped communicating with Putin.
Putin is also currently planning a visit to Istanbul, although there is some confusion about the exact timing.
At the same time, Turkey delivered Turkish Bayraktar drones to Ukraine quickly after the start of the war in order to be able to defend itself against Putin's aggression.
(smu)