By Janet Ekstract
ISTANBUL- Turkish leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan told reporters after Eid prayers that he will “most probably” meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin some time this week in Istanbul or the capital Ankara. The Turkish president said the discussion would center on “the solution for point-by-point steps to be taken” toward relieving tensions in eastern Ukraine.
Erdogan and Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu as well as other high-level Turkish officials have continued to attempt to broker a permanent ceasefire and negotiate an agreement between Russia and Ukraine ever since the Russian army invaded Ukraine on February 24.. Despite multiple efforts by the Turkish side as well as meetings with both Ukrainian and Russian presidents by UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres – no solid agreements have been reached.
Initially, Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky appeared willing to make major concessions to Russia until discoveries of mass graves in a number of locations in Ukraine including Bucha were discovered and where Russia is accused of numerous war crimes and crimes against humanity. After the Bucha incident, Zelensky made it clear that negotiations would lead nowhere as long as Russia was still bombarding Ukraine on a daily basis.
