Zelenskyy, Erdogan discuss first, next meetings of delegations in Istanbul
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy had a telephone conversation with his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
"I had a good and very substantive conversation with President of Türkiye, Erdogan. I thanked him personally, as well as all of Türkiye, for their principled stance in supporting the territorial integrity and sovereignty of our state," Zelenskyy wrote on Telegram.
According to him, the parties talked about the first meeting in Istanbul. "The POWs exchange was an important achievement of that meeting, but unfortunately, the only one. A ceasefire is necessary in order to move forward toward peace. The killings must stop," Zelenskyy stressed.
They also discussed a possible next meeting in Istanbul and under what conditions Ukraine is ready to participate in it. "We share the view that this meeting cannot and should not be empty. We also talked about the potential organisation of a four-party meeting at the level of the leaders of Ukraine, Russia, Türkiye, and the United States," the president noted.
Meanwhile, they also separately talked about Türkiye's participation in the Ukraine-Southeast Europe summit.
"I’m grateful for the steps and ideas that can bring the necessary results," Zelenskyy added.
In turn, the Directorate of Communications of the Republic of Türkiye reported on the social network X that the parties discussed bilateral relations between the two countries, as well as regional and global events.
"Türkiye will continue to work to ensure a just and lasting peace between Ukraine and Russia. Türkiye supports the continuation of the talks started in Istanbul between the delegations of the two countries, and is satisfied that the POW exchange agreed upon in the Istanbul talks was carried out in a short time," Erdogan was quoted as saying.
The Turkish leader also said that the discussion of a possible ceasefire at the second round of talks scheduled to be held in Istanbul would pave the way for peace, and that the participation of both countries in the meeting with a strong delegation is important to continue the momentum provided on the path to peace.
Erdogan also noted that holding leadership-level meetings after the meetings between the delegations would be beneficial for the peace process.