08/07/2023 00:03 (act. 08/07/2023 00:10)
Zelenskyy continued his journey from Bratislava to Istanbul ©APA/AFP
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has expressed his support for Ukraine’s membership of NATO. “There is no doubt that Ukraine deserves to be a member of NATO,” Erdogan said on Friday after a meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Istanbul. But Erdogan also said that in the war between Russia and Ukraine, “both sides” should “return to peace talks”.
Erdogan also announced that Russian President Vladimir Putin would visit Turkey in August for the first time since his country’s war of aggression against Ukraine began on Feb. of the agreement on Ukrainian grain exports, which expires on 17 July.
He also spoke with Zelenskyy about the grain deal, Erdogan said. He hopes to discuss this with Putin next month, the Turkish president said, adding: “We hope the deal will be extended.”
The grain deal, which was negotiated by Turkey and the United Nations in the summer of 2022, is set to expire on July 17. The deal ended months of a Russian naval blockade of Ukraine’s Black Sea ports. As a result, Ukraine, as one of the most important exporters of grain in the world, may be exporting grain again – albeit on a limited basis.
The UN urged all parties in a written statement on Friday to extend the agreement to ensure global food security. The deal has been extended several times, most recently by two months in mid-May. However, Russia complains that promises to facilitate Russian agricultural exports have not been fulfilled in this context. Turkey, a NATO country, maintains good relations with Russia and Ukraine.
The Kremlin had previously stated that it was closely monitoring the meeting. Moscow has recently tried to break its growing international isolation by building close ties with Erdogan. “We will closely monitor the results of these negotiations,” said Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov. “It will be interesting for us to know what was discussed. It’s important,” he added.
Zelenskyy’s visit to Turkey was his first since the Russian invasion of his country. The Ukrainian president had previously held talks in the Czech Republic and Slovakia.