Ukraine has asked Turkey to help arrange a summit meeting between President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Russian leader Vladimir Putin in a renewed effort to end the war, Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said in Kyiv.
“We have addressed the Turks directly. But if another capital — other than Moscow and Belarus — organizes such a meeting, we will attend,” Sybiha told reporters at a briefing Tuesday. “We are also advocating for a meeting now to inject new momentum into the Zelenskyy—Putin diplomatic track.”
With Russia’s full-scale invasion in its fifth year and U.S.-brokered negotiations stalled since the Middle East conflict erupted, Ukraine is seeking alternative ways to revive the diplomatic track. Kyiv has long seen Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan as a mediator able to engage with Putin, and Istanbul has hosted past talks between Russian and Ukrainian officials.
The Turkish Presidency didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
Zelenskyy has repeatedly said he’s willing to meet Putin if it helps advance a peace deal, and that almost any country could host the talks. The Russian president has previously ruled out a meeting before an agreement on ending the war has been reached for the two leaders to sign.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
Istanbul hosted the first direct talks between Russian and Ukrainian officials in more than three years in May last year. It was also the venue for negotiations that led to the Black Sea grain deal in 2022 brokered with Turkey and the United Nations to unblock Ukrainian agricultural exports. Peace talks within weeks of the February 2022 full-scale invasion also took place in Istanbul.
The pace of recent U.S.-led negotiations has slowed as President Donald Trump’s administration has focused on the war with Iran in the Middle East. Ukraine has invited the top U.S. negotiators Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff to visit Kyiv for the first time after multiple trips to Moscow, though a meeting hasn’t yet been confirmed by Washington.
While Ukraine cites some progress in the talks, including prisoner swaps, and Zelenskyy’s top aide Kyrylo Budanov has said the end of the war may be nearing, negotiations have made little visible headway.
Sybiha said Ukraine was in its “strongest position on the battlefield in the past year” due to advances in drone technology that have offset Russia’s advantage in manpower.
Meanwhile, Kyiv continues to press its allies to step up sanctions against Russia to intensify pressure for talks. Sybiha said he’s receiving “encouraging signals” that a new European Union package of measures will go ahead.
“Our understanding has expanded, as has the need to further squeeze the Russians — their industry, shadow fleet, and maritime services,” he said.