Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan says US President Donald Trump told him he would attend potential peace talks between the leaders of Ukraine and Russia in Turkey if Russian President Vladimir Putin also agreed to attend.
Returning from the NATO summit, where he met Trump for the first time since returning to the presidency, Erdogan said he told the US president that Ankara was keen to bring the leaders of Russia and Ukraine together in Turkey for peace talks.
“He (Trump) said: “if Russian President Vladimir Putin comes to Istanbul or Ankara to find a solution, I will also come,” Reuters quoted Erdogan as saying.
“We will make the necessary contacts and, God willing, we will realise this meeting as soon as possible,” he added.
Trump has not yet announced this.
Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Donald Trump met in The Hague, Netherlands, where they were attending the NATO Heads of State and Government Summit. According to Erdogan’s press office, during the meeting they discussed bilateral relations between Turkey and the US, regional and global issues, particularly the search for a peaceful resolution to the war between Russia and Ukraine.
At the talks in Istanbul on 2 June, Ukraine offered the Russian side to hold the leaders’ meeting by the end of June. Moscow rejected this proposal.
On 19 June, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that he was ready to meet Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, but reiterated his illegitimacy.