Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, hoping to broker peace negotiations between Russia and Ukraine, warned on Tuesday that negotiations will only be possible if NATO avoids antagonizing Russia by expanding its membership and influence.
Erdogan said at a Ramadan dinner with foreign ambassadors in Ankara that he supports Ukraine’s sovereignty, but Russia’s security concerns must be addressed for a ceasefire deal to take shape.
“While putting forth our support for Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, we have already said that peace plans excluding Russia will not yield any results,” Erdogan said.
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“We are working to re-establish navigational safety in the Black Sea and ensure grain trade can be done safely. We believe steps that would exacerbate conflicts in the region, that would spread to NATO as well, must be avoided,” he said.
Erdogan offered to host a peace summit during a meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky last Friday, arguing that Turkey’s good relations with Russia made it better suited to play peacemaker than any other NATO member.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan checks hands with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky after a joint press conference at the Vahdettin Mansion in Istanbul on July 7, 2023. (OZAN KOSE/AFP via Getty Images)
“Since the beginning, we have contributed as much as we could toward ending the war through negotiations. We are also ready to host a peace summit in which Russia will also be included,” he said after meeting with Zelensky on Friday.
Erdogan keeps stressing that Russia must be involved in negotiations because Zelensky has said his country will not directly bargain with Moscow. Instead, he reiterated his ten-point peace plan – really a list of Ukraine’s demands, including the withdrawal of Russian troops and release of all prisoners of war – when he met with Erdogan in Istanbul.
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Turkey was able to negotiate a deal in 2022 between Ukraine and Russia that allowed Ukrainian grain shipments to resume from previous blockaded ports. The deal was regarded as a significant humanitarian accomplishment because Ukraine’s grain was much in demand by impoverished nations, so the Russian blockade was increasing food insecurity.
Russia withdrew from the Black Sea grain deal in July 2023, complaining that Russia’s needs for access to food and fuel had not been met, and Ukraine was harassing the Russian-annexed Crimean peninsula.
A Ukrainian flag on the wall of the destroyed school waves as Russian-Ukrainian war continues in Senkove village of Luhansk Oblast, Ukraine on March 15, 2023. (Wolfgang Schwan/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
Turkey has been very helpful to Ukraine’s defense against the Russian invasion, particularly through its sale of inexpensive and highly effective combat drones. Some analysts believe an expanded Turkey-Ukraine defense partnership could be pivotal to thwarting the Russian invasion, although Erdogan’s warnings about expanding the Ukraine crisis into NATO could be a signal he is reluctant to take that step.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba met with allied foreign ministers in Vilnius, Lithuania, and insisted massive immediate foreign aid, rather than “drop by drop” assistance, was needed to turn the tide against the Russian invasion.
“If things continue as they currently happen, it’s not going to end well for all of us,” said Kuleba. “What is required is an unrestricted and timely supply of all types of weapons and ammunition to ensure that Ukraine beats Russia and the war in Europe does not spill over.