Russian-Turkish Welcome for Initiatives to End the Ukraine War

Turkey and Russia have both welcomed initiatives to end the Russia-Ukraine war, though their positions diverged on Ukraine’s pursuit of NATO membership, which was a key cause of the war.

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu, in a joint press conference with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov after their talks in Ankara on Monday, said: “As we enter the fourth year of the war today, we place great importance on the new U.S. initiative and believe that a solution can be reached through negotiations in which both warring parties must participate.”

Çavuşoğlu added that Turkey remains ready to play a facilitative role in negotiations between Russia and Ukraine and can host such talks. He stressed that Turkey’s goal is to end this devastating war as quickly as possible.