Ukraine's Zelensky arrives in Turkey for talk with Erdogan

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky arrived in Istanbul on Friday, where he will meet with his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan to discuss the Russian invasion of Ukraine and navigation in the Black Sea.

The two presidents are scheduled to meet at Dolmabahce Palace in Istanbul and hold a press conference this evening, according to the program published by the Turkish presidency.

The Ukrainian presidency indicated that Zelensky and Erdogan will discuss “the security of navigation in the Black Sea, global food stability, and the release of Ukrainian prisoners and political prisoners held by the Russian state.”

Since the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, NATO member Ankara has maintained close relations with Kiev and Moscow. Erdogan presents himself as a mediator between the two warring countries.

A Turkish diplomatic source told AFP on Friday that Ankara will once again stress its “steadfast support for the territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence of Ukraine, including with regard to the Crimean Peninsula,” which Moscow annexed in 2014.

In the first weeks of the war, Turkey hosted peace talks between Moscow and Kiev, but they failed. Zelensky and Erdogan's meeting comes a week after Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov visited Turkey, where he met with his Turkish counterpart Hakan Fidan during a diplomatic forum in Antalya. Russian President Vladimir Putin is expected to visit Turkey at a date that has not yet been determined.