Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is set to host Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky for an official visit on Tuesday, according to the Turkish government’s communications director, Fahrettin Altun, in a statement to X.
The meeting is scheduled to take place in Ankara, with the strategic partnership between the two countries at the forefront of the discussions. Altun stated that the talks will focus on strengthening bilateral cooperation and addressing regional and global challenges, including the current situation in Ukraine.
Meanwhile, a high-level meeting is also taking place in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, between Russian and US representatives, marking the first in-person contact since 2022. The Russian delegation, led by Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, includes advisor to the president Yuri Ushakov. Lavrov emphasized that the talks will focus on listening to the US’ proposals, but ruled out territorial concessions to Ukraine.
The US delegation, comprising of Foreign Minister Marco Rubio, National Security Advisor Mike Waltz and Special Envoy Steven Witkoff, is expected to engage in discussions on the Russian-American relations, potential negotiations to resolve the Ukraine conflict and the possibility of a meeting between the two presidents.
The Kremlin’s spokesperson, Dmitri Peskow, stated that the talks aim to review the Russian-American relations, prepare for potential presidential meetings and explore possible agreements. Saudi Arabia was chosen as the venue due to its neutrality, Peskow added.
Ukrainian President Zelensky is scheduled to arrive in Saudi Arabia on Wednesday, warning that his country will not participate in the talks and will not recognize any agreements reached without its involvement, as negotiations without Ukraine are meaningless.
In a separate statement, US Foreign Minister Rubio announced that the US plans to involve Ukraine and European countries in the negotiation process in the future.