Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan reported that U.S. President Donald Trump expressed his willingness to join potential peace talks aimed at resolving the war between Ukraine and Russia, provided that Russian President Vladimir Putin also participates in these negotiations.
This is reported by Kyiv24
Conditions for U.S. Participation and Turkey’s Position
After the NATO summit held in The Hague, Erdogan spoke about his meeting with Trump. During the discussions, the Turkish leader stated that Ankara aims to organize a meeting between the presidents of Ukraine and Russia on its territory to achieve a peaceful resolution. According to Erdogan, Trump promised to come to Turkey if Putin also agrees to participate in such talks.
“He (Trump) said: ‘If President of Russia Vladimir Putin comes to Istanbul or Ankara to seek a solution, then I will also come,'” Reuters quoted Erdogan as saying.
Erdogan also added that Turkey plans to conduct the necessary diplomatic contacts to organize this meeting as soon as possible.
Prospects for the Negotiation Process
At this moment, Donald Trump has not publicly confirmed this information. During the NATO summit in The Hague, where the meeting between Erdogan and Trump took place, bilateral relations between the U.S. and Turkey were discussed, as well as global issues, including finding pathways to peace between Ukraine and Russia.
Earlier, during negotiations in Istanbul on June 2, the Ukrainian side proposed to hold a meeting of the leaders of Ukraine and Russia by the end of the month; however, Moscow rejected this initiative. On June 19, Vladimir Putin expressed his readiness to meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, while again questioning his legitimacy.
In May, Putin proposed to resume direct negotiations with Ukraine. Volodymyr Zelensky suggested holding a personal meeting in Istanbul. At that time, Trump also stated that he would come to Turkey if negotiations were held between the leaders of Russia and Ukraine. However, Putin only sent a Russian delegation to Istanbul and did not participate in the meeting himself.