The Associated Press reports that Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky met on Friday in Istanbul.
The news agency writes that Erdogan is expected to pressure his counterpart to end the war between Russia and Ukraine.
Turkey maintains close relations with both Russia and Ukraine and has previously offered peace mediation proposals for the two warring countries.
It is said that devising new measures to ensure the safety of navigation for commercial ships in the Black Sea was among the topics discussed by the two presidents.
Volodymyr Zelensky has welcomed Turkey’s support for his country. It is worth mentioning that Turkey is a member of the NATO military alliance.
This meeting comes as the Ukrainian President seeks more support from other countries and aims to halt the advance of Russian forces, who are attempting to gain control of more territory in the western part of the country and penetrate deeper into Kharkiv.
Turkey hosted a meeting between the foreign ministers of Ukraine and Russia in February 2022, shortly after Russia invaded Ukraine, but no tangible results were achieved.
The war between Russia and Ukraine has now entered its third year.
