A dinner with a salt-crusted fish on the menu, an hour of one-on-one discussion with its host, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, and a joint press conference lasting barely twenty minutes, at midnight: the first visit to Istanbul, since the outbreak of the war in Ukraine, of the Ukrainian President, Volodymyr Zelensky, ended Friday, July 7, late at night with a catalog of good intentions but without any breakthrough on the hot topics of the moment.
After a visit to Bulgaria, the Czech Republic and Slovakia, where he sought to obtain more Western weapons and strong support for his ambitions to join NATO, the Ukrainian leader tried to influence the position of the Turkish president , which maintains close ties with both Kiev and Moscow, towards more firmness towards Vladimir Putin. In vain. The two leaders even seemed tired and unsmiling, including during their handshake in front of the photographers.
In turn, Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Volodymyr Zelensky discussed the future of the Ukrainian grain export agreement through a corridor in the Black Sea. The protocol, concluded in July 2022 with the sponsorship of the United Nations and Turkey, expires on July 17. Russia has threatened not to allow its extension beyond that deadline. “We hope that the agreement will be extended”, reaffirmed Mr. Erdogan, who said he wanted to raise the subject with Mr. Putin in August. Millions of people around the world rely on this secure corridor for food, Mr. Zelensky recalled, “and these lives cannot depend on the mood of the President of the Russian Federation”.
A slight tenseness marked the face of the Ukrainian president, still dressed in his khaki polo shirt, when his Turkish counterpart announced the visit, ” next month “ in Türkiye, of the Russian leader. The opportunity for Mr. Erdogan to mention ” face to face “ the subject of prisoner exchanges between Russia and Ukraine. The intermediation of Mr. Erdogan had enabled the transfer of some 200 fighters in September, including soldiers from the Azov regiment. “We heard Mr. Zelensky on this subjectMr. Erdogan insisted, we will listen to Mr. Putin. » On Friday, the spokesman for the Russian presidency, Dmitry Peskov, had welcomed the “mediator role” of Mr. Erdogan in the conflict, stressing that the Turkish President has “repeatedly made great efforts to solve various problems”.
Ukraine ‘deserves’ to join NATO
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